U.S. Envoy Calls Zelenskyy ‘Courageous Leader’ Amid Escalating Tensions Between Trump and Kyiv

According to REF/RL, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine says he held "extensive and positive" discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the White House continues to explore a peace deal and also strike an agreement with Kyiv on accessing the country’s valuable minerals in exchange for U.S. assistance.

"A long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine,” Keith Kellogg wrote in a February 21 post on X in his first comments about his meeting with Zelenskyy since reporters gathered for a February 20 press conference only for it to be canceled at the last minute.

Kellogg called the Ukrainian president an “embattled and courageous leader” while Zelenskyy said that the meeting “restores hope” following a public rift between Kyiv and Washington, with Trump calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” and Zelenskyy accusing him of echoing Russian propaganda.

The conciliatory comments came on the final day of a multiday visit to Ukraine by Kellogg and a few days after U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia about ending three years of war in Ukraine.

Since those talks, Trump and Zelenskyy have traded public criticism amid growing tensions between Kyiv and Washington.

Trump continued his critique on February 21, saying there is "no need to include Zelenskyy in peace talks" because the Ukrainian leader has so far failed to end the war.

"I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards and you get sick of it...I've had it," Trump told Fox News radio.

In addition to exploring the path for a peace deal, Kellogg's visit came amid discussions on reaching a possible agreement that would grant the United States access to lucrative Ukrainian critical minerals and rare earth deposits as compensation for past U.S. aid following Russia’s full-scale invasion while also potentially securing future American assistance.

The exact terms of the U.S. offer are not known and it remains unclear if progress was made during Kellogg’s trip.

Both Reuters and Axios reported that U.S. officials during Kellogg’s visit presented a new streamlined minerals pact to Kyiv after Zelenskyy rejected an initial offer presented by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which would have given the United States a 50 percent stake in Ukraine’s natural resources, including minerals, metals, oil, and gas.