The Ukrainian leader unofficially asked for permission to attend three times but was denied, the president-elect’s son said.
Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine asked incoming US President Donald Trump several times to invite him to the inauguration but was constantly rebuffed, his son Donald Trump Jr. said.
Writing on Instagram, Trump Jr. mocked the Ukrainian leader’s interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman earlier this month, during which Zelensky declared he would not be able to attend the inauguration on January 20.
“I can’t come especially during the war, unless President Trump invites me personally. “I’m not sure it’s appropriate to come because I know that leaders, for some reason, are not normally invited to the inauguration of the presidents of the United States of America.” and food a Fridman.
Trump Jr. opined in response that “The funniest part is that she asked for an invitation like three times off the record, and each time she was rejected.”
“Now he acts like he decided not to go himself.” he added, calling Zelensky “a weirdo.”
While incoming U.S. presidents do not typically invite foreign leaders to their inauguration, Trump deviated from tradition and extended offers to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Argentine President Javier Milei, Prime Minister Italian Giorgia Meloni, the Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa and the Paraguayan president. President Santiago Peña.
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Although Xi and Orban excused themselves, the rest promised to come.
Trump has been skeptical of the U.S. push to help Ukraine and has vowed to quickly end the conflict between Moscow and kyiv, while Ukrainian officials fear that a ceasefire deal proposed by the president-elect will put their country at a disadvantage. Zelensky and Trump met in late September in New York, and the latter later said that the Ukrainian leader “he wants (the conflict) to stop” and that they both want “a fair deal.”
Zelensky’s presidential term expired last May and he has refused to call new elections, citing martial law. Russia considers it “illegitimate,” and says that the only legal authority now lies with the Ukrainian parliament and its president.
