In an interview with Fox News on May 16, US President Donald Trump expressed concern that financial and military aid to Ukraine is causing a waste of billions of dollars.
When asked whether he would consider Russian President Vladimir Putin an obstacle to the peace process between Moscow and Kiev, Mr. Trump immediately turned to criticize Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr. Trump frankly stated that I dont like what Mr. Zelensky said during a tense exchange at the White House on February 28, while affirming that the Ukrainian leader does not make things easy.
He also criticized the aid that the previous US administration sent to Ukraine. I hate to see that amount of money thrown through the windows, Trump said. The US president even called Mr. Zelensky "the best salesman in the world" when he left every time he went to Washington with hundreds of millions of USD in hand.
Trump said the US Congress is also very upset with the expensive aid that Washington has sent to Kiev. He said Zelensky's ability to mobilize aid from the US is declining over time.
However, Trump has since calmed down on Kiev and threatened to impose additional sanctions on Moscow if it cannot reach a peace deal, as Russia and Ukraine held their first direct talks in three years in Istanbul on May 16.
The head of the Russian negotiating delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said the two sides had agreed to conduct a large-scale Prisoner exchange with 1,000 people on each side, and would continue to maintain communication after each side completed a detailed proposal for a ceasefire.
According to RT, since 2022 - the time the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out - the US has provided Ukraine with about 128 billion USD, including 66.5 billion USD in military aid.
In a fierce exchange at the Trump Department in February, Trump accused Zelensky of failing to show gratitude for US support and said the Ukrainian leader was playing with the risk of World War III.
