Top US official suggests Zelensky may need to go
US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says Washington wants to see Kiev led by someone who can “deal with the Russians and end this war” Read Full Article at RT.com
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says Washington wants to see a leader in Kiev who can “deal with the Russians and end this war”
Washington is unsure whether Vladimir Zelensky is the right man to lead Ukraine at this juncture, the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has told CNN. The official argued that Friday’s tumultuous spat between the Ukrainian leader, President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance indicated that Zelensky may not be ready to talk peace.
When asked by Dana Bash on Sunday to share his view of Zelensky, Waltz said that “it’s unclear whether President Zelensky, particularly after what we saw on Friday, is ready to transition Ukraine to an end to this war, and to negotiate and have to compromise.” He noted that it is President Trump’s conviction that both Kiev and Moscow would have to make concessions in order to stop the bloodshed.
According to the national security advisor, during the US president’s meeting with Zelensky on Friday, “it did not appear to us that [he] was ready to go to peace.”
When pressed by a CNN presenter as to whether the White House wanted Zelensky to step down, Waltz clarified that “we need a leader that can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians, and end this war.”
The official added that “if it becomes apparent that President Zelensky’s either personal motivations or political motivations are divergent from ending the fighting in his country, then I think we have a real issue on our hands.”
In an interview with Breitbart Radio on Saturday, Waltz compared Zelensky to an “ex-girlfriend that wants to argue everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.”
Speaking with ABC news on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that he had not “had any contact with [Zelesnky] since Friday.” The diplomat stressed that the Trump administration’s goal is to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, with the US head of state being the “only person on Earth who has any chance whatsoever” of accomplishing this.
“Don’t do anything to disrupt that, and that’s what Zelensky did unfortunately – he found every opportunity to try to Ukraine-splain on every issue,” Rubio stated, recounting Friday’s shouting match at the White House.
