Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lashed out at US Vice President JD Vance, accusing him of “somehow justifying” Vladimir Putin’s continued aggression. Speaking to US news programme 60 minutes, the war time leader described how he believed that senior members of Donald Trump’s administration had fallen for Kremlin propaganda and disinformation.

He also accused figures around the US President of pushing an “altered reality” around how the war started. He said: “I believe, sadly, Russian narratives are prevailing in the US. This speaks to the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on U.S. politics and U.S. politicians.”

The Ukrainian leader singled out Vance who he accused of “somehow justifying Putin’s actions" in a brutal four-word verdict.

Zelensky referred to the ill-fated meeting in the White House which descended into chaos after Vance accused the Ukrainian of not showing gratitude to the United States.

He told 60 minutes: “I tried to explain, ‘You can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim.'”

The American Vice President accused Ukrainian authorities of taking visitors on a “propaganda tour” of the country, an accusation that was not taken kindly by Zelensky.

The confrontation signalled a split in relations between the two countries after three years of unequivocal support from the United States under previous president Joe Biden.

Vance has been widely criticised for several high-profile comments and statements about European countries.

Shortly after the November election, the former Ohio senator claimed that the UK would become the first nuclear armed Islamist regime and was scolded by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the Oval Office after making unsubstantiated claims about free speech infringements in the UK.

Earlier this year, the second most powerful person in the US was widely condemned for comments interpreted by many as being disparaging about the sacrifice of French and British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The interview with 60 minutes once more shows a growing frustration from Ukraine towards the United States, who has scaled back support of the country in its ongoing war with Russia.

Earlier today, Trump repeated a past claim about Ukraine’s role in “starting the war”, despite the fact Russian troops invaded the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

Of Zelensky, Trump said: “He's always looking to purchase missiles. Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know that you can win a war.

“You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles."