Escalating Trump row looms over Zelensky’s US visit

[Pelican Press 0]

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Escalating Trump row looms over Zelensky’s US visit

The Speaker of the US House Mike Johnson has demanded that Ukraine ***** its ambassador to Washington, as a feud between the *********** Party and Volodymyr Zelensky escalates.

Johnson’s intervention comes after President Zelensky visited an arms factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania – the hometown of President Joe Biden in a key swing state – with several top Democrats.

In a public letter, the top *********** said the visit was “designed to help Democrats” and claimed it amounted to “election interference”.

The row has threatened to overshadow Zelensky’s meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday, during which he will present a “plan for victory” in his country’s war with Russia.

Since his arrival to the US on Sunday, Zelensky has ramped up efforts to persuade the US and other allies to lend more support to Ukraine as it fends off Russian advances.

In a statement ahead of his White House visit, Zelensky previewed three elements of his victory plan: further weapons donations, diplomatic efforts to force Russia to agree to peace, and holding Moscow accountable for its full-scale invasion in 2022.

He had planned to present the proposals to the two presidential candidates: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

However, an official on Donald Trump’s campaign said the *********** nominee would not meet the Ukrainian leader on his tour of the US this week.

Trump and Zelensky have long held a fractious relationship. In 2019, Trump was impeached by the US House over accusations that he pressured Ukraine’s leader to dig up damaging information on a political rival.

In recent months, he has frequently repeated Russian talking points over the war. At a campaign event on Wednesday he mocked Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on Earth”. Trump also accused the Ukrainian leader of refusing to “make a deal” with Moscow.

During an earlier rally on Tuesday, Trump praised Russia’s military capabilities, saying: “They beat *******, they beat Napoleon – that’s what they do, they ******.”

The former president’s remarks come amid a growing row between Zelensky and the *********** party over his visit to an ammunition factory in Biden’s hometown of Scranton in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

During the visit, Zelensky appeared with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and several other top Democrats. Speaker Johnson accused the president of taking part in a “partisan campaign event” designed to held Vice-President Kamala Harris’ camapign.

Meanwhile, the ***********-led House Oversight Committee had already announced that it would investigate whether Zelensky’s trip was an attempt to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Congressional Republicans blocked the Biden administration’s $61bn military package for months earlier this year, before ultimately relenting and passing the legislation in April.

Before that, arms supplies to Ukraine had dried up for several months.

The US has been the largest foreign donor to Ukraine, with $56bn provided for its defence to date.

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