Trump says Zelenskyy "refuses to make a deal" as pro-Russia Republicans shun Ukrainian leader

Former President Donald Trump is stepping up his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claiming that the Ukrainian president "refuses to make a deal" with Moscow some 31 months after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Republicans in Congress are following Trump's lead, many now refusing to meet with Zelensky during his visit to Capitol Hill.

House Republicans, rather than offer support for the war-time leader, instead announced this week that they are investigating a trip he made to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania, claiming that he might have been flown there on the taxpayer's dime to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.

“Those cities are gone, they’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelensky. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt,” Trump said in a campaign speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina Wednesday, suggesting that Russia would not have destroyed so much of Ukraine had the latter been more accommodating.

Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, likewise said in a call with reporters that "everything is going to be on the table," but also “nothing is going to be definitely on the table” in peace talks hypothetically facilitated by a second Trump administration. He argued that American resources are being wasted in a war with no end. (At the same time, Vance has advocated for bombing Mexico and Iran and giving billions of dollars in aid to Israel, which is currently waging war in Gaza and Lebanon.)

Zelensky responded to Vance's comments by saying the senator was "too radical" for suggesting that the war should end "at Ukraine's expense." That in turn angered Republicans, CNN reported, with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, warning him to "stay out of American politics."

Ukrainian forces have held the Russians at bay for much of the past two years, but acute supply and manpower shortages, exacerbated by GOP lawmakers stalling a U.S. military aid package earlier this year, have led to cracks in their defense. The reality on the ground and the prospect of a Trump White House in 2025 may have persuaded Zelenskyy to think seriously about peace talks with Russia. In July, he suggested that Russia could send a delegation to peace talks in Switzerland, despite earlier avowals to only negotiate once Russia had withdrawn all its forces from Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, House Republicans are accusing Zelensky of colluding with Democrats, citing the visit to an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania. That, they claim, was mere cover for supporting Harris' campaign efforts in a key swing state, even though neither Harris nor any of her staffers were present.

“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy. House Oversight Chair James Comer then announced an investigation into Zelensky’s use of U.S. aircraft to travel there.

According to a Pentagon spokesperson who spoke to CNN, Zelensky, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and other officials were "conducting official business related to U.S. security assistance to Ukraine."