‘I’ve had it’: Trump admits Russia attacked Ukraine as he blames Zelensky, Biden
Washington: President Donald Trump has acknowledged Russia is the aggressor against Ukraine but blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his predecessor in the White House, Joe Biden, for failing to do a deal to restrain Vladimir Putin.
As Zelensky and Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine praised each other following a meeting in Kyiv that “restored hope”, Trump doubled down on his criticism, saying he had “had it” with Zelensky, and the Ukrainian leader was not needed at the negotiating table.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.Credit: Getty Images, AP
“I’ve been watching this man for years now … I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards, he has no cards, and you just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” Trump told Fox News Radio.
“Then he complains that he’s not at a meeting. Well, he’s been at meetings for three years and nothing got done. So I don’t think he’s very important [sic] to be at meetings, to be honest with you.”
Trump was referring to talks between US and Russia in Saudi Arabia last week to which Ukraine was not invited.
Pressed on whether he recognised Russia as the aggressor against Ukraine, Trump ignored the question several times before admitting Russia attacked but blaming it on Zelensky and “very dumb” Biden.
“Biden said the wrong things, Zelensky said the wrong things, they got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger, which is a bad thing to do, and you don’t do that. But Russia could have been talked out of that so easily. That should never have been a war,” Trump said.
“Russia attacked, but they shouldn’t have let them attack, because they wouldn’t have attacked if you had people that knew what they were doing … I’m not trying to make Putin, like, nicer or better, I’m just telling you the fact the war should have never happened.”
Trump went on to say Putin wanted to make a deal, “and he doesn’t have to make a deal because if he wanted, he’d get the whole country”.
The US president expressed his frustration with Zelensky just as his envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, emerged from what he described as “extensive and positive discussions” with Zelensky and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv.
Kellogg broke with Trump to praise Zelensky as “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war”, while Zelensky characterised the meeting as “one that restores hope”.
Zelensky later confirmed US and Ukrainian officials were working on an agreement – which involves the US accessing Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for military and financial aid – and said the economy and security went hand-in-hand.
“This is an agreement that can strengthen our nations, and the key is to work out the details to ensure its effectiveness,” he said in a video message. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported both parties were close to agreeing on terms.
Meanwhile, Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz – who was part of the US delegation to the talks in Saudi Arabia – told a summit in Washington that Zelensky would agree to give the US access to rare earth minerals.
“Here’s the bottom line: President Zelensky is going to sign that deal. You will see that in the very short term,” Waltz said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Defending Trump’s discussions with Putin, he said: “You can’t end a war if you don’t talk to both sides.”
Those remarks echoed a more fulsome explanation of the administration’s position laid out on social media by Vice President J.D. Vance and in an interview by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“I think President Trump is very upset at President Zelensky, and rightfully so. Joe Biden had frustrations with Zelensky, people shouldn’t forget it,” Rubio said in a Fox News interview, referring to reports Biden snapped at the Ukrainian leader over a lack of gratitude for US support in 2022.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr.Credit: AP
Rubio accused Zelensky of misrepresenting the outcome of a meeting in which Rubio said Zelensky indicated support for a deal on rare earth minerals and pledged to seek parliamentary approval.
The US was pursuing the minerals “not because we’re trying to steal from your country”, but because it would cement a security guarantee and repay American taxpayers for nearly $US200 billion ($314 billion) in assistance, Rubio said.
“We’re trying to help these guys. It’s not that we don’t care about Ukraine, but Ukraine is on another continent. We care about it because it has implications for our allies and ultimately for the world. There should be some level of gratitude.”
Meanwhile, Trump announced the US would draw up new rules to prevent American firms advancing Chinese military interests and stop China-affiliated individuals from buying up critical US businesses and assets.
In a memo to cabinet secretaries that labelled China a foreign adversary, Trump said his administration would use all legal instruments to prevent people linked to China investing in US technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, “or other strategic sectors”.
He also said the US would use all legal avenues and consider sanctions against its own citizens to deter them from investing in the Chinese military-industrial sector.
“Investment at all costs is not always in the national interest,” the memo said. “The People’s Republic of China does not allow United States companies to take over their critical infrastructure, and the United States should not allow the People’s Republic of China to take over the United States critical infrastructure.”
Late on a busy Friday, Trump also announced he had fired the powerful Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles “CQ” Brown, a history-making fighter pilot and only the second black general to serve as chairman.
Trump said he was nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s newly installed defence secretary, had previously questioned whether Brown got the job as chairman because of his race.
With Reuters, AP
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