News conference between Zelenskyy and Trump’s Ukraine envoy cancelled

The change was requested by the US side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said

US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, right, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky talk during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine Picture: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

A planned news conference after talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy was cancelled as political tensions deepened between the two countries over how to end the almost three-year war with Russia.

The format of the press event, which was to include comments to the media by Mr Zelenskyy and retired US lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, was changed at the last minute on Thursday so that the two did not deliver statements or field questions from journalists.