WASHINGTON, February 21. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump does not think that Vladimir Zelensky’s presence is necessary at negotiations on settling the Ukraine crisis.

"He's been in the meetings for three years, and nothing got done. So, I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you," Trump noted. "He makes it very hard to make deals," he told Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade.

Additionally, the US leader described US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent’s visit to Kiev as "a wasted trip."

"And frankly, I wish he didn't go there, waste all of his time like that," Trump added.

On February 12, Bessent handed over a draft agreement on rare-earth metals while visiting Kiev. Zelensky did not sign it then, nor later, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, during his meeting with US Vice President JD Vance. Instead, the Ukrainian delegation presented a revised version with its proposed amendments which the Americans decided not to take into account.

In recent days, tensions between the US and Ukraine have escalated sharply. Trump labeled Zelensky a dictator and accused him of obstructing a rare earths deal. In response, Zelensky suggested that Trump was a victim of "Russian disinformation.".