Zelenskyy was sleeping: Trump claims Treasure Secretary Bessent was treated rudely during his last week's visit to Kyiv
US President Donald Trump has stated that his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was treated rudely during his visit to Kyiv last week.
As reported by AP, the US president stated that it took Bessent a long time to arrive in Kyiv, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was reportedly sleeping and unavailable for a meeting.
"He [Bessent] traveled many hours on the train, which is a dangerous trip, and we're talking about the secretary of the treasury. He went there to get a document signed, and when he got there, he came back empty," Trump said on board the presidential plane.
As reported before, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived in Kyiv on 12 February to discuss economic partnership with Ukraine and met with Zelenskyy during his visit.
At the time, the Ukrainian president said that the United States had handed Kyiv the first draft of a partnership agreement that would provide for investment in Ukraine's mineral resources in exchange for further assistance.
According to media reports, the Trump administration offered Ukraine to give the US 50% ownership of the country's rare earth minerals, but Zelenskyy refused to sign the document. The White House called the decision short-sighted.
On 14 February, Zelenskyy and US Vice President J.D. Vance's meeting in Munich was postponed to give the US an opportunity to work on the draft memorandum of partnership that Ukraine had finalised and handed over to the Americans.