‘Dictator’: Trump’s unleashes on Zelensky
The rift between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is rapidly turning into a chasm with both presidents laying into each other.
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Relations between the US and Ukraine are rapidly reaching rock bottom after Donald Trump labelled Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator without elections” on Wednesday, US time, who soon “won’t have a country left”.
Mr Trump notably has not called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “dictator” despite that country’s heavily criticised polls that have seen Putin effectively in power for 24 years.
Mr Trump’s tirade came hours after Mr Zelensky said the US President was “living in a disinformation bubble” created by Russia.
That in itself, was a response to Mr Trump’s comments the night before that Mr Zelensky’s approval rating was at “4 per cent”, Ukraine should have fresh elections and that it was Ukraine that started the war – a false claim.
Mr Zelensky said that was nothing more than Russian propaganda.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky’s sparring comes at an awkward time for Kyiv with the city hosting the US’ Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg on Wednesday to discuss a possible peace deal.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had a “positive assessment” of Tuesday’s peace talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia. He added that “nobody was excluding Ukraine” from talks, despite them pointedly not being invited.
Trump, Zelensky trade blows
Moscow, already pleased that the Trump White House appears to have conceded to many of its demands before talks even began, will be overjoyed at the widening rift occurring in real time between Washington DC and Kyiv.
Both Ukraine and Europe are worried that Mr Trump and Putin will stitch up a peace deal over their heads that will leave the country and the continent wide open to Russian aggression in the future. Mr Zelensky has said he will not accept a deal Ukraine is not involved in.
Trump: Ukraine ‘started’ war
The barbs between the two presidents kicked off on Tuesday night, US time, when Mr Trump gave a Mar-a-Lago press conference.
He said negotiations with Russia were “going very well” before laying into Kyiv.
He berated Ukraine for “starting” the war and not ending it sooner.
“You should have ended it three years (ago). You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.
“But they chose not to do it that way.”
His comments seemed to suggest Kyiv should have traded away territory before the conflict even began.
It also ignored that it was Russia that invaded Ukraine.
Asked if Ukraine needs fresh elections, which should have occurred in May 2024 but have been postponed due to the war, Mr Trump enthusiastically agreed.
“I hate to say it, but he’s down at (a) 4 per cent approval rating – and where a country has been blown to smithereens”.
There appears to be no basis for Mr Trump’s 4 per cent approval claim of Mr Zelensky’s presidency.
A recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, cited by Mr Zelensky has his approval rating at 57 per cent in February. While that’s down from his approval score when the war started, it remains higher than Mr Trump’s own approval figures which pollster Gallup said was now at 45 per cent.
Trump ‘living in Russian misinformation’
An exasperated Mr Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that Mr Trump was repeating Russian talking points.
“Unfortunately, President Trump — I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us — unfortunately … he is living in this (Russian) disinformation bubble”.
He also pushed back on Mr Trump’s figure about how much the US had funded of the war. He claimed $US200bn combined had been donated from the US and EU plus an additional $US67bn in American weapons.
The US has been pushing for Ukraine to sign a deal for it to exploit its mineral sworth up to $US500bn.
But Mr Zelensky said that was far above the monetary value of the support Washington had given Kyiv.
“It’s not $500bn – that’s not a serious conversation”.
It was reported that last week, US Vice President JD Vance initially refused to meet Mr Zelensky unless he signed onto a mineral deal – that included little in security guarantees. The Ukrainian president refused at the meeting went ahead, albeit hours late.
Trump: Zelensky is a ‘dictator’
Later on Wednesday, Mr Trump took to social media in a furious riposte to his Ukrainian counterpart.
He called Mr Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian”, referring to his past career, who had “talked the US into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start.”
He claimed the US had spent $200bn “more than Europe”.
“This War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — we have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation.”
Mr Trump said Mr Zelensky “refuses to have Elections” and is “very low in Ukrainian Polls”.
Mr Zelensky was a “Dictator without Elections,” he said, adding “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left”.
Moscow has for some time questioned the legitimacy of Mr Zelensky due to the delayed Ukrainian elections. However, Russia’s own elections are hardly free and fair with no proper opposition to Putin. He has been in power for 20 years.
“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,” Mr Trump went on.
“I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job”.
Putin: Ukraine ‘not excluded’
For his part, Putin spoke to reporters in St Petersburg where he said the “level of trust” needed to be raised between the US and Russia in order to “resolve many issues”.
But he said he would meet Mr Trump “with pleasure” to discuss Ukraine. However, he suggested Mr Trump’s swift timeline to a meeting might be too fast.
On Ukraine being seemingly excluded from peace talks, Putin said that didn’t need to be the case.
“We are ready, I have already said this a hundred times – if they want, please, let these negotiations take place.
“No one is excluding Ukraine.”
Most commentators believe, however, that Putin wants the US and Russia to decide Ukraine’s fate.
Putin also claimed that Russian troops had crossed into Ukraine north of the city of Sumy. Kyiv denied the claims.
At the same time as Mr Trump was tearing Mr Zelensky to shreds, US envoy Mr Kellogg was in Kyiv attempting to relay a far more conciliatory tone.
“We’re here to listen, we understand the need for security guarantees … the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and defence of this nation,” Mr Kellogg said.
The day before, US national security adviser Mike Waltz had also said Ukraine would need a shield to defend itself from Russian attack.
“We know just the practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there’s going to be discussion of security guarantees. Those are just fundamental bases that will, that will undergird and underlie any type of discussion,” he said in Riyadh.
Originally published as ‘Dictator’: Trump’s unleashes on Zelensky
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