Russian Foreign Ministry says Zelenskiy's US trip was a failure

MOSCOW: Russia's Foreign Ministry said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's trip to Washington on Friday was a political and diplomatic failure and that he was obsessed with continuing to wage war.

Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump clashed at a White House meeting on Friday, plunging ties between Kyiv and the United States — its main military backer — to a new low.

"The visit ... to Washington on February 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure by the Kyiv regime," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a written statement published on Saturday on the ministry's website.

She described Zelenskiy's behaviour at the White House as "outrageously boorish" and said the Ukrainian president was "an unabashed cynic" whose main goal was to keep power.

"For the sake of this, he has destroyed the opposition, built a totalitarian state and ruthlessly sends millions of citizens to their deaths," Zakharova said.

Kyiv has previously dismissed such accusations.

Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, has reacted to react with glee to Friday's clash in the White House.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev said Zelenskiy had been given a "solid slap" at the meeting, during which Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being disrespectful towards the U.S.

Zelenskiy had seen the meeting as a chance to convince the U.S. not to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and openly challenged Trump over his softer approach towards the Russian leader.