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LAST UPDATE | 19 Feb
US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and baselessly claimed that Ukraine “started” the war.
Trump held a press conference today in which he criticised Zelenskyy, repeated several Russian narratives about the conflict and called for an end to the war.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform of the Ukrainian leader, whose five-year term expired last year.
Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime. Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained leader under martial law imposed following the Russian invasion.
His popularity has lessened but the percentage of Ukrainians who trust him has never dipped below 50% since the conflict started, according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
Zelenskyy in turn accused Trump of succumbing to Russian “disinformation,” including Trump blaming of Kyiv for having “started” the war and echoing Kremlin questions over Zelenskyy’s legitimacy.
“He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle,’” said Trump in the Truth post of Zelensky.
“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,” Trump wrote in the post.
Zelenskyy earlier said Trump is living in a “disinformation space” after the US president blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia, which actually began when Russia invaded almost three years ago.
Trump has chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks held in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.
“Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.
In response, Zelenskyy said to reporters that “unfortunately, President Trump, who we have great respect for as leader of the American people … lives in this disinformation space”, accusing Moscow of misleading Trump.
Trump has also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month, in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.
Zelenskyy had criticised the US-Russia talks for excluding Ukraine, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.
The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who proceeded to launch a series of attacks on Zelenskyy, who has led Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelenskyy to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticising what he said were Zelenskyy’s approval ratings.
“They want a seat at the table, but you could say… wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.
“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has praised Trump’s assertion that Ukraine started the war.
“He is the first, and so far, in my opinion, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the previous administration’s pushy line of dragging Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov said.
Trump “is a completely independent politician. Besides that, he is a person who is used to talking directly. Such people typically do not hide their opinions about pathetic individuals like Mr Zelenskyy,” state-run TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.
European leaders are increasingly fearful that Trump is giving too many concessions to Russia in his pursuit of the Ukraine deal that he promised to seal even before taking office.
But Trump insisted that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
Trump said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”
“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said.
The president added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war.
“If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said.
Trump stunned the world when he announced last week that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.
The US president then said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.
Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would meet Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”
Zelenskyy said he wants the war to end this year.
“We want security guarantees this year, because we want to end the war this year,” Zelenskyy said during a press conference in Kyiv.
EU countries have agreed a new round of sanctions on Russia, diplomats said, as the bloc looks to keep up pressure following US talks with Russia.
The wide-ranging package – which includes a ban on imports of Russian aluminium – will be formally adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.
“We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s special envoy is in Kyiv today to “listen” to Ukraine’s concerns.
Ain’t the media great to give these protests wall to wall coverage…
@Derek Durkin: Goddamn media reporting the news, despicable if you ask me.
@Diarmuid Hunt: yeah because that’s how the media works yeah….not too bright are we
@Derek Durkin: I didn’t say they weren’t selective. Nice ad hominem though.
If you choose to chain or glue yourself to objects, you should be left to protest unaided for 24 hours or at least until you toilet yourself.
@Mick Byrne: Do you really give a **** about what you claim to believe in?
@Mick Byrne: You’re only giving them ideas! Dirty protests are not unheard of in this country…
@Mick Byrne: And to ask what toilets do they use or do they tow mobile toilets with them.
Bunch of hypocrites should be all arrested
@Jim O Brien – TechBuzz Ireland: Arrested for protesting? Are you sure about that?
@Shakka1244: they’re breaching the peace so they can be arrested, there is nothing peaceful about pushing through a barricade and chaining yourself to a gate also it’s worth noting that assembly near or at the dail can be controlled or shut down under article 40 of the Constitution. At this stage their numbers are dwindling and they’re getting desperate for media attention, this little stunt just proves it. Sure their little March through Penneys on Mary street completely backfired, there was killings on Twitter because they came across as elitist and snobby.
@Peej: I think you’ll find that many could see that they weren’t elitist or snobby, more highlighting the abhorrent working conditions of the sweatshops used to fund the functioning capitalists who sell such items by mass production, shops like Penney’s capitalize on the detachment of works who are often as young as 12 brought from urban areas to big cities to be exploited for the good of the western consumer, whilst the big chains relish in the reward,.
Get in those lads the council employed . Seemed to work a dream
Arrest them all already. Waste of tax payers money. Right to free protest has long since passed
@Gareth Murran: Are you saying that anyone that protests should be immediately arrested? Since when did we become North Korea?
@Shakka1244: if XR on their manifesto are encouraging civil disobedience and not protests, by its very nature, their intention is to be arrested!! There is a difference between cd and protest.
@Jennifer Hampson: Yep, civil disobedience pretty much guarantees time in custody. It depends on whether enough people think the cause is worth it & if enough do, change will soon follow. Time will tell if they keep it up but if the climate keeps getting worse, it’ll only go one way.
I thought it already was an open house if you were in the know!!!!!!
Ruined a great event for the general public. And now the hippies will wonder why they ain’t getting support? Plant a hemp tree somewhere and smoke it when it finally is big enough.
TD are the one making the issue of carbon with this tax to handle the public deficit . Twenty per cent of that national debt made up of a deal made by a minister with IMF ad EU never laid before the Dail .
When did a minister get authority to treat his deal as law of land without consnet of Dail and Oireachtas ie legislation making deal part of law
and
How can TD vote on estiamte if the Dail has no control over what in kitty to spend whihc it does not until that deal laid beofe it by min?
Commission can serve notice on ireland to reduce that deficit (64.8 per cent in excess of the 60 per cent threshold under the Fiscal Compact Treaty per ntma report at end of 18 with loan of 44 billion from eu and uk ) as an DEBTOR to EU ??
TD complaining about not enuf spend are only putting us into deeper debt and only DAIL can change situation by TD having minister LAY that EU/IMF deal before the dail that will reduce deficit until DAIL approves terms by voting thru legislation making it part of law of state. Term that public spending complies with deficit rule but also public funds will cap bank cos share value fall cos of ECB policit we have no control over.
Minister have to acknowledge a debt cos min signed loan agreement .
But TD seem to want to have cake and eat it want to complain about govt , overspending or underspending but not taking control of the fund but seem to have no problem voting thru these estimate . Think it will carry on until voter tell local TD .. hey why isnt that deal before Dail? We elect U to be responsible for whats in kitty to spend not minister ?
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