Trump could snub Zelensky – AP
No meeting has reportedly been scheduled between Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and former US President Donald Trump, according to AP. US House Speaker Mike Johnson has also said he is uncertain about meeting Zelensky.
Zelensky is visiting the US to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and pitch his so-called ‘victory plan’ to key figures in the country’s political establishment.
His purported roadmap for defeating Moscow will first be presented to President Joe Biden, but Zelensky also intends to talk with the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates as well as senior officials.
However, no meeting between Zelensky and Trump has been scheduled as of Tuesday, the Associated Press has reported, citing an official in the Republican nominee’s campaign, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity.
Johnson, who has also been invited to meet with Zelensky, indicated that he won't be available to speak with the Ukrainian leader in remarks he gave to the press on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we actually are going to be in town on Thursday. We have our schedule changed on the floor, so it’s very fluid,” the Republican legislator said, according to a clip shared by Voice of America correspondent Kateryna Lisunova. “I’m not sure yet.”
Zelensky is facing a backlash from Republican politicians over his criticism of both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
He has also been reproached for his visit to the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania at the invitation of its Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who took the Ukrainian leader to a weapons factory.
Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt has accused Zelensky of “openly campaigning for Democrats,” while nine Republican members of Congress have requested that the Pentagon inspector general determine if the trip to Pennsylvania constituted a violation of US law.
There is growing skepticism about Ukraine’s strategy in the ongoing conflict with Russia, according to media reports. Some of its Western backers have dismissed Kiev’s ‘victory plan’ as a “wish list” and are calling for renewed diplomatic engagement with Moscow, sources have told Bloomberg.
Trump has claimed on the campaign trail that he would put an end to the conflict in 24 hours, if elected. Zelensky, however, has stated that the former president “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.” He has also said that Vance was “too radical”; the VP candidate has dismissed the Ukraine conflict as largely irrelevant to American interests.
