Trump-Zelenskyy feud escalates as Republicans demand envoy’s removal

The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, has demanded that Ukraine fire its ambassador to Washington as the feud between Donald Trump and Volodymr Zelenskyy escalated and Republicans accused the Ukrainian leader of election interference.

In a public letter, Johnson demanded that Zelenskyy fire the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, over a visit to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, last week where the Ukrainian president thanked workers for providing desperately needed shells to his outgunned forces.

Johnson complained that Markarova had organised the visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant as a "partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats". The event was attended by the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who has campaigned in support of Kamala Harris.

"The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because - on purpose - no Republicans were invited," Johnson wrote in a letter on congressional letterhead addressed to the Ukrainian embassy.

"The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference," the letter continued. "This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova's ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately."

On the same day, Trump in a campaign event in North Carolina attacked Zelenskyy directly and accused him of "refusing" to negotiate a peace deal with Vladimir Putin.

"The president of Ukraine is in our country. He is making little nasty aspersions toward your favourite president, me," Trump said. "We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal: Zelenskyy."