Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky flies to Washington on Monday under heavy US pressure to agree on a swift end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, but remains determined to defend Kyiv’s interests – without sparking a second Oval Office showdown with Donald Trump.The US president invited Zelensky to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv’s arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands have died since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a rapid, full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not”.The blunt rhetoric throws the onus squarely back on Zelensky, putting him in a perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office in February descended into acrimony.
The US president upbraided him in front of world media at the time, saying Zelensky did not........

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