War of words: What Trump’s attack means for Ukraine

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky’s simmering feud has escalated, sparking global reaction. Here’s what the US President’s furious tirade means for Ukraine’s future.

Donald Trump has slammed Volodymyr Zelensky as “a dictator without elections”, saying the Ukrainian President had better move fast to secure peace or he would have no country left.

His extraordinary tirade came hours after Mr Zelensky said the US President was “caught in a web of disinformation” from Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Here’s how the pair’s war of words has escalated, in what is the deepest rift between the two leaders since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago, and what it could mean for Ukraine’s future.

The simmering feud between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump has escalated.

HOW DID THE WAR OF WORDS START?

The US President made his bombshell “dictator” comment on his Truth Social media platform, after the Ukrainian president told a fiery press conference in Kyiv that Mr Trump was pushing “a lot of disinformation coming from Russia”.

Mr Zelensky’s comments came a day after Mr Trump claimed to reporters that Ukraine had “started” the war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a combative press conference in Kyiv. Picture: AFP

In a furious post, Mr Trump called Mr Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian” who had done a “terrible job” as his country’s leader.

“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked 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,” Mr Trump posted.

“The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.”

US President Donald Trump is seen in his motorcade driving through West Palm Beach as the feud erupted. Picture: AP

In earlier comments, Mr Trump said he was “disappointed” that Mr Zelensky complained about being left out of talks between the US and Russia over ending the Ukraine war.

The US President also increased pressure on Mr Zelensky to hold elections – echoing one of Moscow’s key demands — and suggested that future security of Ukraine would not be an American problem.

WHY IS TRUMP TURNING ON UKRAINE?

Mr Trump’s criticism of Mr Zelensky is part of his administration’s stunning transformation of US foreign policy, pushing back on the international alliances that it built to defend democracy while restoring relations with authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin.

The President has long complained about the billions of dollars in aid and military support that the US has sent to Ukraine, arguing it should have been spent solving domestic problems including the record influx of illegal immigrants over America’s southern border.

Some suspect the tension with Mr Zelensky is also tied to the first impeachment of Mr Trump in his first term, over a call in which he urged the Ukrainian President to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter ahead of the 2020 US election.

Donald Trump’s scathing comments mark a stunning reversal of US foreign policy. Picture: AFP

WHAT IS UKRAINE SAYING?

Speaking after Mr Trump’s attacks, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X: “We will defend our right to exist.”

WHAT ARE TRUMP’S ALLIES SAYING?

US Vice President JD Vance told the Daily Mail: “The idea that Zelensky is going to change the President’s mind by badmouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the President will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk applauded Mr Trump’s statement, saying on X: “Zelensky cannot claim to represent the will of the people of Ukraine unless he restores freedom of the press and stops cancelling elections!”

Donald Trump shakes hands with Volodymyr Zelensky at the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral last December. Picture: AFP

WHAT IS RUSSIA SAYING?

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has echoed Mr Trump’s call for elections to be held in Ukraine, saying that the US had listened to Russia “for the first time”.

Andrei Kelin told the BBC: “We believe that since (Zelensky’s) legitimacy has come to an end in May last year (when his five-year term ended), he should have elections.”

The Russian Foreign Minister has been quoted by state media as calling the Ukrainian president “pathetic”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he would like to meet with Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

“(Trump) is a completely independent politician. Besides that, he is a person who is used to talking directly. Such people typically do not hide their opinions about pathetic individuals like Mr Zelensky”, Sergey Lavrov said, according to Tass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in St Petersburg he “has no close relations” with Mr Trump and that they haven’t seen each other “for a long time”.

But he said that Mr Trump wants to meet him and he would do so “with pleasure”.

WHAT ABOUT AUSSIE LEADERS?

In a rare criticism of Donald Trump, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the US President got it “wrong”, adding that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked” and an “act of aggression”.

“The thought that President Zelensky or the Ukrainian people started this battle, or somehow they were responsible for the war, is just wrong,” he told 2GB.

“It’s a democracy, and this is a fight for civilisation. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, and we shouldn’t be giving him an inch.”

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, speaking from London, accused Mr Trump of “living in a fantasy land”, saying peace could not be a “surrender to vicious, naked aggression”.

Mr Abbott said the US should not “appease dictators” like Mr Putin.

“I think we are in a bit of a dangerous place, and I hope that he will think again, and I think that wise heads in Washington will be getting together to think this through,” he said.

WHAT ABOUT THE GLOBAL REACTION?

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called Mr Zelensky to express support for him “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”, Downing Street has said.

“The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelensky this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together,” a press release said.

“The Prime Minister expressed his support for President Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader and said that it was perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time, as the UK did during the Second World War.

British and European leaders are backing Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: AFP

“The Prime Minister reiterated his support for the US-led efforts to get a lasting peace in Ukraine that deterred Russia from any future aggression.”

Former British PM Boris Johnson said the US President’s statements on Ukraine “are not intended to be historically accurate, but to shock Europeans into action”.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump was “right that Europe needs to pull its weight”, but defended Mr Zelensky, who she said “is a democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stood up to Putin’s illegal invasion”.

John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Mr Trump, said the comments were among the most shameful remarks ever made by an American president.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump last September at the United Nations General Assembly. Picture: AFP

He wrote on X: “Our support of Ukraine has never been about charity, our way of life at home depends on our strength abroad.”

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said that Mr Trump’s comments about Ukraine’s leader were “wrong and dangerous”.

“What is correct is that Volodymyr Zelensky is the elected head of state of Ukraine,” Scholz told Der Spiegel.

“The fact that proper elections can’t be held in the middle of the war is reflected in the Ukrainian constitution and electoral law,” he added.

Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has said that Europe is “at an existential crossroads for security and peace”.

WILL UKRAINE HOLD ELECTIONS?

The Speaker of Ukraine’s parliament has pledged his full support to Mr Zelensky and rejected the idea of a wartime election.

“Ukraine needs bullets, not ballots,” Ruslan Stefanchk said on Facebook.

“Reinventing democracy under shelling is not democracy, it’s a stage-managed play, whose main beneficiary is in the Kremlin.

“The racist enemy cannot and will not dictate anything to us. We will not copy their practices, where the ‘winner’ is known even before the vote.”

WHO COULD REPLACE ZELENSKY?

The man known as Ukraine’s “Iron General” appears to have Mr Trump’s backing as a possible successor for Mr Zelensky if elections are held.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and now Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom. Picture: AFP

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army and now the nation’s ambassador to the UK, could be seen as an attractive replacement due to his military record and diplomacy experience.

Russian state media program Vesta said: “The most suitable candidate to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is considered in the United States to be former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.”

Originally published as War of words: What Trump’s attack means for Ukraine