Donald Trump has caused fresh outrage by blaming Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky for the war with Russia.
In remarks likely to send shockwaves around the world, the U.S. president pointed fingers at Kyiv for Moscow’s 2022 invasion and claimed Ukraine had “started the war.”
Speaking at an impromptu press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, an agitated Trump said: “Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited’ [to Tuesday’s U.S.-Russia talks].
“Well, you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it three years. You should have never started it, you could have made a deal.”
In addition, Trump poured scorn on Zelensky’s approval ratings and challenged him to call an election stating “we have martial law in Ukraine.”
“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.”
Zelenksy, who remains in office after serving his five-year term with Ukraine under martial law, brushed off Trump’s snipe and defended his popularity.
“I am the president of Ukraine because 73 percent of people voted for me,” he told German public broadcaster ARD on Tuesday. “And today I’m president because the majority in my country support me. I’m a patriot, just like the people defending our country.”
Trump denied his demand for an election in Ukraine was prompted by the Russians.
“Requests for Ukrainian elections are not ‘a Russia thing,’” he said. “That’s coming from me and many other countries also.”
Trump also delivered a stinging rebuke to Zelensky for complaining he was not invited to the U.S.-Russia peace talks in Ukraine.
Expanding on his remarks about Zelensky’s protest at being excluded from the discussions in Saudi Arabia, Trump said: “I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat, well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that.
“This could have been settled very easily. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine. That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land – and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished.”
Trump also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month amidst shifting views toward Russia, and its leader, in Washington.
Trump’s attack on Zelensky was supported by his ally, tech billionaire Elon Musk, who responded with a 100 percent emoji to an X post that said “Zelenskyy doesn’t want peace, he wants money and power.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky postponed his visit to Saudia Arabia intended for Wednesday until next month after it hosted the talks between Russia and the U.S. about ending the conflict in Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Riyadh on Tuesday for first in-person talks between the two nations since the invasion and agreed to appoint teams to negotiate bringing an end to the conflict.
Zelensky once again condemned Kyiv and Europe’s exclusion from the negotiation table which appeared to trigger Trump.
During a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, the Ukrainian leader disapproved of the talks “taking place between representatives of Russia and representatives of the United States of America,” adding: About Ukraine – about Ukraine again – and without Ukraine.”
Zelensky has said Kyiv will not accept the results of U.S.-Russia talks held “behind Ukraine’s back”.
“It feels like the U.S. is now discussing the ultimatum that Putin set at the start of the full-scale war,” he said.
