President Donald Trump blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator without elections” on Wednesday, after the U.S. left Ukraine out of initial peace talks with Russia this week.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.”
Trump added, “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…..”
Describing Zelenskyy as a “modestly successful comedian,” Trump said the Ukrainian leader “managed to talk the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle.” Trump decried how the U.S. “has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.”
“Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation,” Trump posed of former President Joe Biden. “On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is ‘MISSING.’ He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’”
Zelenskyy hits back against Trump’s comments blaming Ukraine for the war with Russia
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that he wants the U.S. to stop using disinformation when talking about Russia’s war on Ukraine, after President Donald Trump accused Ukraine of starting the war — a Kremlin talking point.
“I would like to see more truth from the Trump team,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv, adding that disinformation hurts Ukraine and is laying the groundwork to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin out of isolation.
Zelenskyy has spent months praising Trump and working cautiously to win him over. Wednesday’s remarks were his most pointed since Trump took office last month.
The Ukrainian leader looked exhausted but calm as he spoke to a small group of reporters in the presidential palace, which is sandbagged to protect from frequent Russian missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
“This is not my first dialogue or battle,” he said, “and I take it calmly.”
On Tuesday, Trump also claimed — without citing evidence — that Zelenskyy’s approval was 4%. A recent public opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy, an approval rating that is higher than Trump’s, which is currently at 44%, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
“We’ve seen this disinformation, we understand it comes from Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “Unfortunately, President Trump — and we have great respect for him as a leader of people we also respect very much — he lives in this disinformation space.”
In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump warned that Zelenskyy “better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for talks with Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian government officials. Zelenskyy said he wants Kellogg to bring Trump a realistic picture of Ukraine, based on facts.