Trump calls Zelenskyy a 'dictator' as US-Ukraine tensions grow

US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "better move fast," calling him a "dictator without elections" after the Ukrainian leader earlier on Wednesday accused Trump of being trapped in a "disinformation bubble."

"A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia, ending Washington's bid to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine with a Trump-Putin phone call and talks between senior US and Russian officials.

Talks between the US and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine were hosted in Saudi Arabia this week and excluded Ukraine and Europe, prompting widespread concern for a potentially expanded conflict into the continent and talks of increasing defence budgets. 

Trump earlier suggested Ukraine was responsible for Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion and Zelenskyy's approval rating was at 4 per cent, after which Zelenskiy responded by saying the US President was in a Russian "disinformation bubble."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lauded Trump for saying that previous US support of Ukraine's bid to join the NATO military alliance was a major cause of the war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy is expected to meet visiting US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg, who said as he arrived in Kyiv that he expected substantial talks as the war approaches its three-year mark.

Trump's US policy reversal puts it at odds with allies in the 27-member European Union, whose envoys on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.

France said it did not understand the logic of Trump's comments that Ukraine was to blame for Russia's invasion.