Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has prompted President Donald Trump’s anger by claiming the latter is immersed in Russian “disinformation space.”
President Zelenskyy’s comments were made to reporters at a conference shortly after top US diplomats met with Russian counterparts to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war.
“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," claimed Zelenskyy.
President Trump responded scathingly, calling Zelenskyy a dictator and blaming Ukraine for starting the war against Russia.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” stated Trump. “A modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 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 U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff recently met Russian officials at the first US-Russia encounter since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine and European states were notably absent from the negotiations.
Zelenskyy claimed he would not accept any proposed peace deals that Ukraine had not been involved in negotiating.
The Trump administration has reportedly rejected claims insinuating Ukraine is being sidelined and instead characterized the negotiations with Russia as an initial introduction into Russia’s intentions and desires vis-a-vis Ukraine.
“President Trump has shifted the entire global conversation from not *if* the war is going to end, but just *how* it's going to end," said National Security Advisor Waltz.
Trump has repeatedly stated he intends to end the war in Ukraine.
During the campaign trail, Trump promised he would negotiate an end to the war “very quickly.”
