CNN
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US President Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Voldymi Zelensky a “dictator” and spoke between two leaders that began when Trump falsely accused him of starting a war with Russia. Expanded public war.
Trump’s accusations posted on the truth social of his social media network come hours after Zelensky accused him of repeating Russian misinformation.
Speaking to Kiev reporters, Zelensky pushed back some unfounded claims made by the US president on Tuesday, strengthening Ukraine’s position that deals to end the war needed involvement.
“Unfortunately, President Trump – I have great respect for the American people who are constantly supporting us as the leader of the country he always respects. Unfortunately, this disinformation is a great way to say that. I live in the field.”
Trump has made it clear that he hopes the war will end as soon as possible, even if it means further territorial losses in Ukraine. And heavily to the fears of Kiev and his allies, Trump sometimes adopts Kremlin stories, blaming Ukraine and NATO for conflict, even saying that Ukraine “maybe it’s Russian one day.”
But Trump’s Russian boost goes far beyond rhetoric. The president chose to make a 90-minute call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week, and raised many eyebrows before speaking to Zelensky.
Then on Tuesday, US and Russian officials ended the war in Ukraine in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and held high-level consultations with the exception of Kiev from the meeting.
Putin praised this new US attitude towards his country. Speaking about his speech in Riyadh, Putin said he was told the atmosphere was “friendly.”
“There were completely different people on the US side. They were open to the negotiation process without prejudice, without denunciation of what had been done in the past,” Putin added.
The US and Russia agreed to appoint high-level teams to negotiate the end of the war in Riyadh, saying they are working to reestablish diplomatic channels.
Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine was not satisfied with the exclusion, and although every country has the right to discuss bilateral issues, the fact that the US had a direct meeting with Russia was “his long isolation.” He saved Putin from that.”
The United States was one of Ukraine’s closest allies under the Biden administration, providing military aid for tens of millions of people to the country. But Trump made it clear that the US believes it should not send aid to Ukraine in return.
Earlier this month he proposed that the US would be able to access the richest Ukrainian minerals in exchange for aid. Zelensky said Tuesday that the US had asked Ukraine to “give” 50% of its rare minerals. He rejected the idea and said, “I can’t, I can’t sell our state.”
It was Kiev’s first complaint about being locked out of talks that sparked Trump’s false Tirad on Tuesday.
Speaking at the end of Tuesday, Trump said: “Today, we weren’t invited. Well, you were there for three years. It should end in three years. You should never have started it. You’re going to make a deal. Maybe they could have done that.”
The false claim that Ukraine somehow started a war has been repeated for a long time by the Kremlin and its supporters. The conflict began in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed Crimea in the southern part of the Ukraine Peninsula and began sponsoring pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow then launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, attacking small neighbors at night, sending tanks across the border, bombing Ukrainian cities, and assassinating Zelensky in Kiev. I sent a special forces.
Trump falsely claims that Ukraine has started a war with Russia
But Trump couldn’t stop questioning who started the war in Ukraine. Repeating another line often pushed out by the Kremlin, Trump appeared to question Zelensky’s legitimacy.
“We have no elections in Ukraine and there is martial law,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-A-Lago resort, saying Zelensky’s approval rating was “4%.” It’s incorrectly claiming.
Zelensky won more than 73% of the vote in the second round of the 2019 presidential election. His mission was intended to end last May, but no new elections were held as Ukraine was under martial law since Russia began an invasion of an unprovoked country. . Martial Law prohibits elections.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that his approval rate was 4% came from Russia, and Kyiv specifically said there was some evidence that the figures were debated between the US and Russia. I stated.
He mentioned a poll conducted earlier this month by the Kiev International Sociology Institute (KII). .
Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov went further, noting on Telegram that Zelensky’s current approval rate is higher than Trump’s approval rate.
Trump and Zelensky’s relationship has been plagued since Trump’s first term in office since he pressured Zelensky to phone-investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. That call led to Trump’s first blast each.
Trump’s comments have sparked rage across Ukraine, with some saying the US president is not trusted.
Psychologist Valeria Varevska said she spoke to CNN in central Kiev.
“Trump is a narcissist, he is very unpredictable and Ukrainians can’t trust him or rely on his support at all. I don’t like Trump’s policies, and I’m pretty sure he’s very little. I don’t think Ukrainians and Europeans are either,” she said.
Meanwhile, pensioner Olexandr Mikeilov told CNN that Trump “evidently doesn’t understand what he’s talking about.”
“If this continues, Europe will have to intervene and set its own conditions. Wherever the US intervened, they caused damage, as they did in Afghanistan, Iraq, and so on, before leaving.” Mikhailov added.
Trump’s comments were well received in Moscow, with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov telling Russian parliament Duma that Trump appears to “understand our position,” and echoing the Kremlin story. He praises the President of the United States for this.
“I think Trump is the first Western leader to publicly and openly say that the cause of the Ukrainian conflict was the efforts of the administration before expanding NATO,” Lavrov told lawmakers on Wednesday. “There’s no Western leader who actually said that. It’s a signal that he already understands our position.”
At the same time, Russia continues its brutal attack on Ukraine, moving forward along the eastern frontline and attacking from the sky. Moscow launched a massive drone attack on several Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, hours before the meeting in Riyadh. Despite the attack, consultations proceeded as planned.
Russia has long argued that NATO’s eastward expansion has led to NATO leaders falsely claiming that Russia has promised that its defensive alliance will not expand after the end of the Cold War. NATO has always had an open door policy, with the welcome of European states, as long as they meet the entry criteria.
After Russia first launched its attack in 2014, Ukraine deepened its cooperation with NATO.
Putin used NATO arguments to justify the invasion of Ukraine, falsely claiming that NATO forces were fighting in Ukraine.