Mitch Mccann: US Correspondent on tensions rising between the US and Ukrainian presidents

Tensions are rising between the US and Ukrainian presidents. 

In a post on social media network Truth Social, Donald Trump has labelled Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator without elections, who's duped the US into spending billions of dollars in defence against Russia.  

It comes hours after Zelensky accused him of repeating Russian disinformation. 

US correspondent Mitch McCann told Andrew Dickens this comes at a delicate time.

He says the US is looking to negotiate with Russia without Ukraine at the table and Ukraine is getting impatient. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Off to the United States. We go, and it's a
good morning to Mitch McCann.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hell I much, Good morning, Andrew.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
How are you very well? President Zelensky calls out President
Trump on truth and disinformation.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, that's right. Zelensky has been walking this awkward tightrope,
I think in recent weeks, wanting to defend Ukraine's sovereignty
ahead of these negotiations that might happen, but not wanting
to criticize Donald Trump openly for some of the comments
he's made that seem rather favorable to Russia.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
But it seems his patience may have run out.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Now here's the context. Last night, at a press conference,
Donald Trump appeared to be almost blaming Ukraine for the war.
He told reporters, referring to Ukrainian leaders, you should have
never started it. You could have made a deal. At
the same time, he was not at all critical of Russia,
the country nearly the entire international community agrees did actually
start it. Now in the last few hours, Zelensky has

(00:52):
shot back reasonably defiant. He said, unfortunately he's living in
this disinformation space speaking about Donald Trump, and he added,
I want there to be some I want there to
be more truths in Trump's team. He also said the
White House suggested that he signed this agreement to give
America half of its rich mineral resources in exchange for defense,

(01:13):
which he refused. So this is coming at a delicate
time where the US is looking to negotiate with Russia
without Ukraine at the table. And you can see now
Ukraine's getting a little bit impatient with what's going on here.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Meanwhile, you're in New York and you're freezing.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, I am, I'm sick of complaining about the weather,
but this is really so cold. It's about minus five
degrees celsius at lunchtime as I speak to you. But
it's far from over, and there's a series of winter
storms about to hit the US. Virginia, North Carolina, and
Delaware are set to receive between fifteen to thirty centimeters
of snow in the coming days. North Carolina and Arkansas

(01:50):
have already declared states of emergency. And just finally, Andrew,
I'll leave you with this. The National Weather Service has
seen temperatures in the city of Bismarck, North Dakota, reached
nigga of thirty seven degrees celsius this week, breaking a
one hundred and fifty year record. It's cold.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Are you a fahrenheit boy yet or are you still
keeping with the Celsius No, I'm on.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Google every five minutes trying to work it out.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Stay warm, and I thank you for your time today.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Thanks Andrew all the best.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Mitch mcan for the United States of America.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
to News Talks it Be from five am weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.