Tony Abbott says Donald Trump is ‘living in fantasy land’ over his comments on Volodymyr Zelensky

The former PM says Donald Trump is ‘living in fantasy land’ and Russia started the Ukraine war, after the US President attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a dictator | WATCH

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Donald Trump is “living in fantasy land” and asserted Russia started the Ukraine war, after the US President attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” who misused billions of dollars in US aid.

After Mr Trump escalated his criticism of Mr Zelensky on Wednesday local time, Mr Abbott backed Ukraine’s right to independence in the face of Russia’s military aggression and warned the eastern European nation should only trade territory in exchange for lasting security.

In a ramping up of rhetoric, Mr Trump accused the Ukraine leader of talking the US into spending US$350bn on a war that “couldn’t be won” and “never had to start”. He warned Mr Zelensky that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left”.

Mr Zelensky has criticised Mr Trump’s remarks for spreading Russian propaganda points and misinformation.

Speaking in London where the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference is being held, Mr Abbott said Ukraine needed NATO membership or troops on the ground as a condition of any ceasefire otherwise “it’s a sellout”.

“Putin started this war. Russia started this war, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in fantasy land,” Mr Abbott told Times Radio.

“Obviously we want peace, but it can’t just be a surrender to vicious, naked aggression, it can’t be.

“The basis for peace has got to be that Ukraine can live in independence and security going forward.

“Now I can understand why you want to trade territory for security, I absolutely understand that.

“But if Ukraine is going to have to surrender some 20 per cent of its territory to the aggressor, they’ve got to be meaningful guarantees of Ukraine’s ongoing security.”

Tony Abbott at the Alliance For Responsible Citizenship Conference. Picture by Andrew Parsons/Parsons Media

Mr Abbott has pushed for Australia to make a greater military contribution to Ukraine and suggested Britain could lead a coalition of countries to take a stand against Russia by deploying troops.

After US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said NATO membership for Ukraine or a ­return to the nation’s pre-2014 borders were unrealistic goals in any peace agreement, Mr Abbott said the embattled nation would need Britain and other countries to put boots on the ground.

“If that can’t be actual membership of NATO, it’s going to have to be some serious boots on the ground from countries like Britain, so that Putin can’t ever do this again,” he said.

“Otherwise, effectively, this isn’t a ceasefire, it’s a sellout.

“This isn’t peace, it’s a surrender. And it’s a surrender to a vicious dictator.”

Mr Abbott said he supported Mr Trump’s decision since assuming office last month, adding that the US President was “mercurial, he’s instinctive and things can change” and would hopefully change his mind on Ukraine.

“I think Donald Trump has done a lot of good things in the brief time he’s been the president,” Mr Abbott said.

“I welcome his common sense on energy. I welcome his common sense on gender and on the kind of woke madness which has invaded our boardrooms.

“I think his domestic policy is really to be applauded. Government does need to be much more efficient. The swamp does need to be drained, walls do need to be built. I think all of that is terrific.

“But this idea that you can somehow appease dictators, this idea that might is right, well, that is completely foreign to everything that America and the broader West has stood for these last 70 years now.”