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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.
Very sad. I spend a lot of time at the coast and it’s shocking to see how unaware some Central and Eastern Europeans are of the dangers.
About six weeks ago I had to tell a couple with a young child who were near Doolin, that where they were standing was particularly dangerous as large swells result in the area being submerged with water very quickly.
Literally five minutes later this is exactly what happened.
Maybe some sort of awareness program might help.
There are signs everywhere in Russian Latvian Polish telling them the area is dangerous. They just don’t seem to get it. Irish fisherman over the years embedded anchor points in the rocks so they could tether themselves to it. Non nationals ignore these. Even if they wore a pfd or life vest they might have some chance. God rest the poor man.
How sad. This happens far too often. I don’t know if warning signs and other messages are also in eastern European languages but the should be.
Would he not just have swum back to shore somewhere else along the coast?
@beni gabor: Aposrently he was wearing waders. These fill up with water and drag you down underwater.
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