Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky hits back at Trump ‘disinformation space’ after blaming Kyiv for Russian invasion – UK Times

Donald Trump’s special envoy has arrived in Kyiv – but his hosts’ instincts could be to lock him in a lead-lined room at Kyiv’s central railway station until he can be put on a train back to Poland.

They were not that rude to poor Keith Kellog. But they will be questioning whether he now represents a security threat to a nation at war – given that his boss has embraced the lies and propaganda of their enemies.

In his latest attack on Ukraine, a nation that was invaded ten years ago, Trump has claimed that Ukraine’s president lacks legitimacy and that his country started the war with Russia.

“I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at a four percent approval rating,” Trump said. “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine.”

World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

Here are the key points from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s press conference held in Kyiv:

• Donald Trump is living in a “disinformation space” sowed by Russia. Mr Zelensky said this in response to Trump’s claim that the Ukrainian president’s approval rating was as low as four per cent.
• The US has “helped Putin to come out of isolation” by holding talks with Russian officials and being more open to Moscow’s demands. But the isolation imposed on Russia by the international community was “completely fair”.
• The Trump administration’s demand for $500 billion in minerals from Ukraine as payment for US support of Kyiv is “not serious”. The US supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in budget support, he added.
• You cannot “whitewash” Russia’s responsibility for the war, he said, hitting back at Trump’s claim that Ukraine was responsible for war breaking out.
• A deal is “impossible without us”, Mr Zelensky said. He described the Ukrainian military as the strongest and most resilient in Europe.

The Trump administration has helped Russian president Vladimir Putin come out of the isolation imposed on him by the international community after the invasion of Ukraine.

The US has “helped Putin to come out of isolation” – but the isolation was “completely fair”.

Mr Zelensky said: “This isn’t positive for Ukraine. What it does is that they’re bringing Putin out of isolation, and the Russians are happy because the discussion focuses on them,” he says.

Asked about the US attempt to reduce Ukraine’s agency over negotiations to end the war, Mr Zelensky said the deal is “impossible without us”.

He adds: “Everybody knows that we are resilient, we are much stronger than at the beginning of the invasion.

“It is the most resilient in Europe and the strongest in Europe.”

Mr Zelensky has hit back at representatives of the Trump administration for describing Russia’s invasion as a “conflict”.

He said use of this word “softens” the reality. In a conversation with the last US government, Mr Zelensky fought against an official paper which described the war “as a conflict”, he revealed.

Mr Zelensky has described Donald Trump’s demand for Ukraine to return 500 billion dollars in minerals as “not a serious conversation”.

Kyiv is willing to do a proper deal with the White House, Mr Zelensky said, adding that “we need security guarantees”.

He adds: “I am protecting Ukraine. I cannot sell our state away.”

The US has supplied $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in budget support, he said.

Speaking from Kyiv, Mr Zelensky says that he does not usually comment on popularity ratings – after Donald Trump claimed Zelensky’s approval rating was at 4 percent.

But in response to Trump’s comments, Zelensky said he has 58 per cent confidence of the Ukrainian public, according to a survey.

He says some reports of popularity ratings are a result of “disinformation coming from Russia”.

Donald Trump is “living in this disinformation space”, Zelensky said, adding that he will publish the real figures to try and breakthrough the “misinformation circle” around the US president.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is now speaking at a news conference.

Stay here for all the key lines.

The situation at Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region is under control after a Ukrainian attack, the regional governor said on Wednesday.

The consequences of the attack have been addressed and there is no major damage, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on the Telegram messaging app.

After the attack earlier today, Mr Fedorishchev said: “Emergency services are working on the territory of the enterprise. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defence systems had destroyed nine Ukrainian drones overnight, over Bryansk, Tatarstan and Tula regions and the Black Sea.