MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's trip to the United States had been a complete "failure", after US President Donald Trump berated him in a stunning televised confrontation.
"The visit of the head of the neo-Nazi regime, V. Zelenskyy, to Washington on February 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure of the Kyiv regime," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
Kremlin also stressed that its goals in Ukraine remained unchanged and accused Zelenskyy of being "obsessed" with prolonging the conflict.
"Russia's unchanging goals remain the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine, as well as the recognition of the existing realities on the ground," Zakharova said, accusing Zelenskyy of being "obsessed with continuing" the fighting.
US President Donald Trump shouted at Zelenskyy on Friday during an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office, berating him for “gambling with millions of lives” and suggesting his actions could trigger World War III.
Zelenskyy then abruptly left the White House without signing a critical minerals deal with the U.S. that Trump had demanded and suggested was a condition for future support for Ukraine.
However, minutes after his departure from the White House, the Ukrainian president in a post on X said, "Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
