Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes President Donald Trump’s opinion of his country’s ongoing war against Russia has been shaped by “disinformation” that inverts the victim and the aggressor in the conflict.
“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 lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.
Zelensky’s comments come in response to Trump’s false assertion Tuesday that Ukraine was to blame for the war breaking out in February 2022. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and faced fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces that unexpectedly prevented the Russians from seizing Kyiv at the start of the conflict.
“But today I heard, ‘Oh, well we weren't invited.’ Well, you've been there for three years,” Trump said Tuesday after Zelensky voiced frustration that Ukraine was not invited to high-level negotiations between the U.S. and Russia.
“You should've ended it in three years. 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, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.”
Trump also argued that Zelensky should allow for a presidential election if Ukraine wants a seat at the table during negotiations. Zelensky’s heroic leadership brought plaudits in Ukraine and worldwide at the start of the war, but his popularity in the U.S. has dropped off significantly in recent months.
During a pre-planned trip to Turkey, Zelensky said he was surprised by the U.S.-Russia meeting and canceled his own trip to Saudi Arabia.
“Decisions on how to end the war in Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine, nor can any conditions be imposed,” Zelensky said.
“We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us, I think for many others as well.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia Tuesday to begin discussing a settlement to stop the conflict in Ukraine. Rubio said Tuesday that any final agreement would have to be acceptable to all parties involved, seemingly suggesting that Ukraine would be given a seat at the table in future negotiations.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was not present at the talks, said last week that NATO membership was off the table for Ukraine at a gathering with European leaders. Hegseth also suggested that Ukraine would not be returning to its pre-2014 borders. A day later, Hegseth clarified that his comments were not definitive and President Trump is leading the negotiations.
Trump has said he is prepared to talk face-to-face with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin about ending the war, a major goal of Trump’s ever since the conflict began. Trump often claims that the Ukraine war never would have started if he were president at the time instead of former President Joe Biden.
The U.S. has backed Ukraine with significant military and humanitarian aid throughout the war, over the objections of some Republican hardliners. Republican opponents of Ukraine funding argue it is not a vital strategic interest to the U.S. to perpetually support Ukraine’s war effort and they scoff at the price tag of American aid.
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