Trump accuses Zelensky of refusing to strike a deal on war

Former US president Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky of refusing to “make a deal” to end his country’s war with Russia.

“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelensky,” the Republican White House candidate said in sharply critical remarks at a campaign rally in North Carolina.

“Every time he came to our country, he’d walk away with $60 billion,” Trump said, derisively describing the Ukrainian president as “probably the greatest salesman on Earth.”

“What do you have left now?” Trump sneered. “The country is absolutely obliterated.”

A face-to-face meeting between Trump, who has been highly critical of the aid Washington and the Pentagon have disbursed to Kiev, and Zelensky had been floated for the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York.

But the meeting is expected to be scrapped, according to US media, which reported Trump did not appreciate the interview Zelensky gave to The New Yorker magazine, in which the Ukrainian president said he believed the 78-year-old Republican “doesn’t really know how to stop the war.”

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Trump’s remarks came shortly after Zelensky addressed the United Nations and accused Russia of plotting potentially catastrophic attacks on Ukrainian nuclear plants.

Trump claimed in early September he had a plan “guaranteed” to end the war but would not reveal it unless he wins the US presidential election.

He also repeatedly asserted he would settle the war between Moscow and Kiev within 24 hours without explaining how.

In recent months he has been particularly critical of US funding for Ukraine and has called on Europe to step up its contributions.

When contacted by AFP, Trump’s team refused to confirm whether the meeting between the two men had been scrapped.