Trump Calls Zelensky 'Dictator' as Tensions Rise over Russia-Ukraine War
Miami. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” lashing out after the Ukrainian president said Trump was being influenced by Russian disinformation as he moves to end the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on terms that Kyiv says are too favorable to Moscow.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the US and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle,” Trump said of Zelensky, who was popular television star in Ukraine before running for office.
Trump added in his social media post that Zelensky is “A Dictator without Elections”!!
Because of Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has delayed elections that were scheduled for April 2024.
Zelensky accused Trump earlier Wednesday of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space."
On Tuesday, Trump also suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the ongoing conflict that has begun since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine almost three years ago.
Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from the talks in Saudi Arabia, where top US and Russian officials met for four hours earlier in the day.
He said repeatedly that Ukraine’s leaders never should have allowed the conflict to begin, indicating Kyiv should have been willing to make concessions to Russia before it sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.
“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you been there for three years. You should have ended it three years” ago, Trump told reporters at his Florida residence. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
Such comments and Trump's goal of mending ties with Moscow may come at a cost to the transatlantic alliance of the US and Europe and significantly damage Washington’s standing with Ukraine as well as with other nations counting on US leadership in NATO and elsewhere for their security and protection.
During former President Joe Biden's administration, the US and Europe focused on isolating Russia and defending the post-World War II international order.
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