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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented US President Donald Trump with a golf club that belonged to a wounded soldier, during his visit to Washington this week, Kyiv said Tuesday.
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Trump, who owns several golf courses in US, accepted the gift and in turn presented Zelenskyy with symbolic keys to the White House, the Ukrainian leader’s office said.
The club that changed hands
The club previously belonged to Kostiantyn Kartavtsev, a Ukrainian soldier who “had lost a leg in the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion while saving his brothers-in-arms”, the office said.
In the Oval Office, Zelenskyy showed Trump video footage of Kartavtsev playing golf. Later, the Ukrainian veteran organisation United by Golf posted a video of Trump holding the golf club and thanking Kartavtsev.
“I just watched your swing. I know a lot about golf and your swing is great,” Trump said in the video. “You’re an amazing person, and you just keep playing golf and doing all of the other things. Your country is a great country. We’re trying to bring it back to health.”
The golf club was presented to Trump in private, not during their televised initial meeting.
February visit contrast
The exchange marked a stark turnaround from February, when Zelenskyy left the White House early after a televised shouting match with Trump and US Vice-President, J D Vance.
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Zelenskyy also brought a letter addressed to Melania Trump from his wife, Olena Zelenska, thanking her for writing to Russian president Vladimir Putin, urging him to save children’s lives.
Trilateral Talks In Moscow?
Budapest may be a possible venue for the trilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a Trump administration official and a person close to the administration. The report states that the US Secret Service has started making arrangements for the summit in the Hungarian capital.
Though Trump and Zelenskyy have spoken about the trilateral meeting, there is no confirmation if Putin has agreed to the same.
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