Volodymyr Zelensky has denied taking cocaine with French president Emmanuel Macron in a bizarre interview with an American far-right MAGA influencer.
Laura Loomer, a close ally of Donald Trump and an ardent conspiracy theorist, travelled to meet the Ukrainian president and witness the impact of the war in Kyiv, after spending the last three years downplaying Russia’s invasion.
Ms Loomer, who has two million followers on X, had previously labelled Ukraine a “country full of Nazi apologists” and had claimed that they were being led “by a Jihadi apologist”.
However, the hardline right-wing activist has changed her stance in recent months and met with Mr Zelensky at the Marrinsky Palace, telling him: “I’ve come to realise that I was bamboozled by Russian propaganda and I came to believe a lot of untrue things about Ukraine.”
Rumours about Mr Zelensky taking Class A drugs with Mr Macron were amplified by Tucker Carlson, a fellow figure on America’s right who carried out a sit-down interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2024.
When asked about the story, the Ukrainian leader laughed and replied: “Of course not”.
Ms Loomer’s shifting position on the war in Europe reflects the growing impatience among the Trump administration and Washington over Moscow’s actions and their lack of readiness to negotiate a peace deal.
In response to Russian propaganda of Nazism in his country, Mr Zelensky explained the history of Soviet persecution of Judaism in Ukraine and stressed: “We are not Nazis”.
He also said that he is due to visit Washington next week for the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and is expecting to see Mr Trump.
The relationship between the two leaders has been fraught with tension over the years, resulting in a shouting match in the Oval Office where Mr Zelensky was criticised for not wearing a suit.
However, he told Ms Loomer that now the relationship is “better and really good” since they met in the Vatican last year.
The pair spoke for around 15 minutes inside St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis.
“The tone has changed, absolutely,” he told Ms Loomer in response to a question about the shift in dynamic. “We had [a] first changing moment in Rome. It was not a long meeting but I always said it was this historic moment because we changed the relations during 15 to 20 minutes.
“Nobody was around us and I was very happy to hear the president. Let it be between the two of us but it was very good when we calmed down. I was very happy because a lot of life depends on relations.”
As well as speaking to Mr Zelensky, the MAGA influencer also travelled around the city, which included visiting a McDonald’s scarred by shrapnel from a Russian missile strike.
In a video recorded from inside a church, Loomer accused Mr Putin of hypocrisy by portraying Russia as pro-Christian.
“I just don’t think that you should be allowed to say that you’re protecting Christianity if you’re trying to drone strike Jesus Christ,” she said.
