President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Michael Waltz said that the White House is “frustrated” with President Volodymyr Zelensky and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“There’s obviously a lot of frustration here,” Waltz said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.
“Vice President Vance was very frustrated leaving the Munich Security Conference, our Secretary of Treasury, who traveled all the way to Kyiv, is also frustrated, all on top of the President, obviously, who makes his frustration well known,” Waltz continued.
When asked if Trump and Zelensky could reconcile, Waltz was quick to respond, “Oh, I think so,” adding that Trump has been clear about “how much he loves the Ukrainian people.”
Kellogg’s meeting with Zelensky: Later on Thursday, Waltz had a message for Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg: “sign the deal.”
“Tone down the rhetoric and sign the economic opportunity deal, sign the deal,” Waltz told CNN at the White House.
Kellogg will meet Zelensky in Kyiv Thursday, a day after the long-fraught relationship ripped apart publicly between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, questioning diplomatic efforts toward peace talks.
CNN previously reported that the White House deal proposes taking 50 percent of Ukraine’s rare earth mineral revenues as payment for past aid to Kyiv with no guarantee of future assistance.
Asked if that was Kellogg’s directive today, Waltz was quick to respond, “He’s out there talking to about a number of things, but that would be, I think that would be a tremendous step forward.”
This post has been updated with more of Waltz’s remarks.
