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Elon Musk has continued to attack Volodymyr Zelensky (Image: Getty)
has taken another swipe at as the row between the US and intensifies.
Mr Musk continued his attack on the Ukrainian president with a post on his X platform in which he repeated ‘s claim Mr Zelensky has an approval rating of 4%. The US president also called his Ukrainian counterpart a dictator for not holding elections.
The Tesla Chief Executive posted on X: “In reality, he is despised by the people of , which is why he has refused to hold an election.”
He added: “I challenge Zelensky to hold an election and refute this. He will not… President Trump is right to ignore him and solve (sic) for peace independent of the disgusting, massive graft machine feeding off the dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.”
Mr Musk’s latest criticism echoed false Kremlin claims Mr Zelensky is a dictator without legitimacy.
Mr Zelensky was elected to a five-year term in 2019, and the next presidential elections had been scheduled for spring 2024. But Ukrainian law prohibits parliamentary or presidential elections during a state of martial law, so Mr Zelensky has remained in office.
In terms of his popularity, Mr Zelensky “retains a fairly high level of public trust” of 57%, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. His ratings have, however, been dropping.
Mr Musk’s comments were in response to a post from an anonymous X account which sought to cast doubt on the Institute’s polling.
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Wounded Ukrainian soldiers receive treatment in Pokrovsk (Image: Getty)
Lib Dem leader urges UK Government to ramp up defence spending
Sir Ed Davey has said the Government must swiftly ramp up defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The Liberal Democrat leader told the : “I’ve never known a time like this. It is probably one of the most alarming times for Britain’s defence and security since the Second World War, with our closest ally changing their position.
“So we have to debate it, it is going to be difficult. I don’t think there’s an easy solution, but we have put some ideas on the table.
“One idea we have put is to increase the digital services taxes, a tax on about 20 multinational companies with turnovers of over £500million and we would raise it from the current 2% to 10%.
“That would raise the vast bulk of what you’d need to move quickly to the 2.5% of national income spending on our defence and our country’s defence.”
Sir Ed also said he wanted to see Russian assets, frozen across Europe since the war began, used to support and build up Britain defences.
Zelensky calls for security guarantees
President Volodymr Zelensky has said needs a reliable and well defined system of security guarantees so a peace deal holds and Russians are no longer able to maim life.
He added: “We all need peace – , Europe, America – everyone in the world.”
In remarks reported by the , Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address: “We need strong agreements with America, agreements that will really work.
“Economic interests and security interests should always go hand-in-hand. And the details of the agreement are important. The better the details are drafted, the better the result.”
‘s leader said he spoke to Mr Kellogg about the frontline and the need to free all Ukrainian prisoners of war held in .
A serviceman in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is laid to rest in Kramatorsk (Image: Getty)
UK’s top diplomat says peace deal must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty
David Lammy has told global foreign ministers that peace with would mean President “finding a way forward which respects ‘s sovereignty”.
The Foreign Secretary was speaking at the G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Johannesburg. The summit was also attended by ‘s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, who left the room before Mr Lammy’s speech in an apparent snub.
Mr Lammy told delegates: “You know, mature countries learn from their colonial failures and their wars, and Europeans have had much to learn over the generations and the centuries. But I’m afraid to say that has learned nothing.”
He added: “We are at a crucial juncture in this conflict, and faces a test. If Putin is serious about a lasting peace, it means finding a way forward which respects ‘s sovereignty and the UN Charter which provides credible security guarantees, and which rejects Tsarist imperialism, and Britain is ready to listen.”
Britain’s foreign secretary said he also didn’t “see an appetite” to reach a peace deal on ‘s part after listening to Lavrov’s speech.
David Lammy was apparently snubbed by his Russian counterpart (Image: Getty)
Zelensky press conference with Trump’s Ukraine envoy cancelled
A press conference which was planned to follow talks between Ukrainian President and US President ’s envoy was on Thursday as tensions deepened between the two countries over how to end the war with .
The event was supposed to include Mr Zelensky and retired US Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, but it was changed at the last minute to a photo opportunity where the two posed for photographers.
They did not deliver statements or field questions as expected. The change was requested by the US side, according to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov.
Mr Kellogg’s trip to Kyiv came amid a row between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky which has bruised their personal relations and cast further doubt on the future of US support for .
Mr Zelensky and Mr Kellogg in Kyiv (Image: Getty)
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