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 invasion and claimed Ukraine had “started the war.”
Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach Florida on Tuesday, the president 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.”
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 Saudia Arabia trip after it hosted the talks between Russia and the U.S. about ending the conflict in Ukraine. He once again condemned Kyiv’s exclusion from negotiations.
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.”
