President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz repeatedly sidestepped questions about the president’s views of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his culpability for the war in Ukraine during Thursday’s briefing.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Thursday dodged a question on whether Russian President Putin was a dictator. The question came during a White House press briefing. This comes as President Trump this week referred to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as a dictator.

Following President Donald Trump's remarks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, US National Security Advisor (NSA) Mike Waltz emphasised that Trump aims to bring an end to the war,

Zelensky rejected the US demand for a share of Ukraine's rare earth minerals on Wednesday, after Trump said he wanted a "deal" that would reflect the amount of aid provided to Ukraine from the US. Waltz said the White House was "very frustrated" with Zelensky after he levelled "unacceptable" insults at US President Donald Trump earlier this week.

President Donald Trump said there was no need for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to take part in talks on ending the conflict with Russia, keeping up his attacks on the Ukrainian leader.