President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine met with President Trump’s special envoy in Kyiv on Thursday — a day after a public feud between the Ukrainian and American leaders threatened to derail diplomatic efforts toward peace talks.

The meeting with Keith Kellogg, the special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, was meant to discuss paths to ending the war that would safeguard Ukraine’s interests. There was also hope that it might help defuse tensions between Washington and Kyiv after Mr. Trump labeled Mr. Zelensky a “dictator” and the Ukrainian president accused him of echoing Russian propaganda.

Whether any progress was made remains unclear: a news conference scheduled for after the meeting was canceled at the request of the United States, according to Mr. Zelensky’s office, although Mr. Kellogg and the Ukrainian leader appeared together for photos.

Reporters who had gathered for the news conference were told to go home. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv did not immediately comment.

Ukraine, wary of straining ties with Washington, its biggest ally, had suggested that the meeting would aim to stop the feud from escalating into an out-of-control dispute. “It is crucial for us that the meeting and our overall cooperation with America be constructive,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address on Wednesday.

But there have been concerns in Ukraine that Mr. Kellogg, a retired U.S. general and longtime adviser to Mr. Trump on security matters, has been sidelined from the administration’s negotiating team, since he was not part of the U.S. delegation that met with Russian officials this week to initiate what the White House said were peace talks.

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