US president said he had to leave to focus on Israel-Iran conflict, without addressing Russia-Ukraine ceasefire
Ukrainian diplomats have been left frustrated – and in some cases embittered – at Donald Trump’s refusal to make Ukraine a priority after Volodymyr Zelenskyy flew 5,000 miles to the G7 conference in Canada only for the US president to return home the night before the two leaders were due to meet. Trump said he needed to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict.
Some Ukrainian officials said they were not sure now if it will be worth Zelenskyy attending the Nato summit in The Hague next week since there was no guarantee that Trump would attend.
One said: “It is an permanent hazard that Ukraine is a victim of events and Trump’s short attention span. Vladimir Putin knows that, which may be why there was such a large attack in Ukraine last night. There had been all sorts of promises for this summit – including new US arms deliveries being offered.” Trump has repeatedly evaded setting a clear deadline by which Putin must commit to a ceasefire.
The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said Trump had promised to attend the Nato summit.
