This handout picture taken and released by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on 26 December, 2024 shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) stands for the National anthem of Ukraine during an award ceremony in Kyiv. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
Overnight there were signs the relationship between the US and Ukraine could be thawing slightly as the US envoy to Ukraine called President Volodymyr Zelensky a "courageous leader".
The envoy Keith Kellog has some patching up to do after a war of words erupted this week between the US and Ukraine.
Earlier US President Donald Trump held talks on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine - but excluded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from those talks.
President Trump also falsely accused Zelensky of being a dictator - and seemed to, also falsely, suggest it was Ukraine that started the war.
On the ground in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is AP International affliliate correspondent Philip Crowther.
