U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not the person to deal with when it comes to an agreement on an energy ceasefire, stating that reaching a deal with the Ukrainian leader is harder than negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking in an interview at the White House, Trump sharply criticized Zelensky's approach to ending the crisis. "Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with," Trump said.
"He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelensky. They have destroyed that country," he added.
Talking about Ukraine's resumption of strikes on Russian refineries, Trump said that both the United States and the world need diesel. "There are a lot of targets you can hit, but when you shoot at diesel refineries where you make, you know, diesel oil, and we need that, and the world needs that, then he's not doing a good service for the world," said Trump.
When asked whether the Russia-Ukraine conflict would end before he left office, Trump expressed optimism about reaching an agreement between the two countries, stating, "I think they actually both would like to see it end, but I think I find Zelensky to be more difficult to deal with than Putin."
Trump announced an immediate "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said Wednesday on Telegram that U.S. aerospace company SpaceX restricted Starlink services on that day, hampering the country's attack and air-defense drone missions.
Zelensky said Ukraine would resume strikes on Russia's oil refineries while expressing anger over the restriction.
"The Kiev regime attempted a large-scale attack on an oil refinery in Ryazan," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding that a "fire broke out after drone debris fell onto the refinery site."
Trump criticizes Zelensky as energy ceasefire collapses with strikes on Russian refinery resuming
Buyers and exhibitors began making valuable new connections on opening day of the 140th Canton Fair, where international attendees discovered the latest products ranging from AI glasses to air conditioners.
About 86,000 overseas buyers from 208 countries and regions traveled to south China’s Guangzhou to attend the first day of the event, also known as the China Import and Export Fair.
Throughout the full multi-phase event, more than 30,000 exhibiting companies and about 340,000 overseas buyers are expected to attend.
Serving as a barometer of China's foreign trade, this year's fair, marking its 70th anniversary, features innovation, intelligence, greater specialization and higher quality. The Canton Fair is one of the world's few one-stop trade platforms offering a complete range of products and technologies.
Among the exhibitors, over 11,000 are niche-market leaders or specialized enterprises known for sophisticated technologies and novel products. Technology adoption runs high, with roughly 64 percent embracing innovations such as the industrial internet and AI. New and green products also set records, appearing at 23 percent and 26 percent of exhibits respectively, with more than 700 launch events planned.
At the "home appliances" exhibition area, a Chinese foreign trade company brought its newly launched solar-powered air conditioner. Against the backdrop of continuously rising energy prices, this category of products is increasingly popular among overseas customers.
"We buy air conditioning split units. We've been having very good feedback from our customers when we were coming here. Everyone is coming to Canton Fair, everyone is buying some goods and it's a very good business. And also there are many opportunities, and anything you bring from Canton Fair, there are very good profits," said Mohannad Waia, a buyer from Dubai.
In order to further expand the market, Chinese foreign trade enterprises are adapting to the needs of different regional markets through product innovation, and their overseas markets are continuously expanding.
"Based on the special needs of many countries, for example, this year we focused on launching this split air conditioner that requires no professional installation and no drilling for the European market. In fact, the industry as a whole has seen quite rapid growth this year. As for our company, we achieved an overall growth rate of 26 percent," said Liu Rongqiang, an exhibitor.
Since the beginning of this year, the import and export of AI products have maintained a momentum of rapid growth. Many Chinese companies in this sector have substantially enhanced their capacity for international operations by developing new products and improving production quality and efficiency.
"Our products mainly focus on AI and wearables. We have carried out product development spanning from hardware to software to the cloud. Through the Canton Fair, we have developed business contacts with clients from Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East over the past few years," said Zeng Zhitao, another exhibitor.
The 140th Canton Fair runs in three phases in Guangzhou from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4.
Over the past 70 years, the Canton Fair has grown into China's largest and longest-running international trade event, with the most complete product range, the largest number of buyers and the highest transaction volume.
Over 80,000 overseas buyers seek new partnerships on Canton Fair's opening day
