US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Russians "have the cards" in any negotiation to end the war in Ukraine, after branding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" who refuses to hold elections.

The Ukrainian leader, who has exchanged barbs with Trump since he initiated a dramatic shift in Washington's stance on the war, was due to meet US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv Thursday.

The United States has provided essential funding and arms to Ukraine, but Trump has rattled Kyiv and its European backers by opening talks with Moscow they fear could end the war on terms unacceptable to them.

"I think the Russians want to see the war end... But I think they have the cards a little bit, because they've taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards," Trump told reporters late Wednesday.

Under former President Joe Biden, the United States lauded Zelensky as a hero and hammered Moscow with sanctions as Ukraine battled against advancing Russian troops.

But Trump has been harshly critical of the Ukrainian leader, claiming he has subverted democracy and blaming him for starting the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion three years........

© International Business Times