WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he does not hold Volodymyr Zelensky “responsible” for Russia’s invasion of his country but continued to criticize the pro-Western Ukrainian leader.
Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that Ukraine started the war and this week accused Zelensky of responsibility for “millions” of deaths.
“I don’t hold Zelensky responsible but I’m not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started,” Trump said at the White House alongside visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“I’m not blaming him, but what I am saying is that I wouldn’t say he’s done the greatest job, OK? I am not a big fan.”
Zelensky earlier this week invited Trump to visit Ukraine to see the devastation wrought by the war for himself, in a Sunday interview with CBS that Trump responded to with threats against the TV network.
His invitation followed a heated row at the White House in late February between the Ukrainian president, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, which played out in front of the media.
Meloni told reporters that “we’ve been defending freedom of Ukraine together, together we can build a just and lasting peace. We support your efforts.”
The far-right leader has thrown Italy’s weight behind European efforts to shore up Ukraine’s defenses since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022.
Trump added Thursday that a deal with Ukraine on extracting the war-wracked country’s strategic minerals could be reached next week.
Kyiv and Washington had been close to signing a deal until the February clash between Trump and Zelensky temporarily derailed work on the agreement.
“We have a minerals deal which I guess is going to be signed on Thursday... next Thursday. Soon. And I assume they’re going to live up to the deal. So we’ll see. But we have a deal on that,” Trump said.
Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in an X post Thursday that Kyiv had signed a “Memorandum of Intent” with Washington on a planned “Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Svyrydenko did not provide any details on the memorandum.
“There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries,” she added.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told AFP that a deal is targeted for April 26.
Trump softens on Zelensky, says mineral deal coming ‘soon’
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Trump softens on Zelensky, says mineral deal coming ‘soon’
- “I’m not blaming him, but what I am saying is that I wouldn’t say he’s done the greatest job, OK? I am not a big fan,” Trump said
- He made the statement alongside visiting Italian PM Meloni, who has thrown Italy’s weight behind European efforts to help Ukraine
India to provide $450 million to cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: India has committed $450 million in humanitarian assistance to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday on a visit to the country.
The cyclone killed more than 640 people when it swept across the South Asian island last month, causing floods and landslides that inflicted about $4 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described the storm, which affected more than two million people, as the most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit, told a media briefing in Colombo he had handed a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dissanayake, committing to a “reconstruction package of $450 million.”
While $350 million will take the form of “concessional lines of credit,” the remaining $100 million will be given as grants.
Jaishankar also noted the 1,100 tons of relief material, along with medicine and other necessary equipment, sent to India’s southern neighbor in the cyclone’s immediate aftermath.
“Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority,” he said, detailing the Indian military’s assistance in providing portable bridges.
Jaishankar said India would also look at other ways to mitigate the losses, including encouraging Indian tourism to Sri Lanka.
“Similarly, an increase in foreign direct investment from India can boost your economy at a critical time,” he added.
The cyclone struck as Sri Lanka was emerging from its worst-ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
Following a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund approved in early 2023, the country’s economy has stabilized.
str-abh/cwl
