US president Donald Trump called Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy a “dictator” who could soon lose his country, as relations between the leaders soured after Kyiv was excluded from US-Russia talks on issues including the war in Ukraine.
Mr Trump launched a furious diatribe against Mr Zelenskiy after the Ukrainian leader accused him of parroting Kremlin “disinformation” by questioning his legitimacy and saying Kyiv “should never have started” a war that was, in reality, caused by a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 following eight years of armed aggression in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskiy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. 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,” the US president wrote on social media.
Describing the former entertainer as a “a modestly successful comedian”, Mr Trump said Mr Zelenskiy had “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”.
Thanks to Trump, Saudi Arabia gets a big week in international diplomacy
Sabotaged car exhausts make for unlikely form of election interference as Germany heads to the polls on Sunday
Ukraine seeks to soothe Trump spat with call for ‘strong, effective’ deal on US ties
US objects to calling out ‘Russian aggression’ in G7 statement on Ukraine
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has signalled Ireland would consider providing peacekeepers in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire being struck with an international mandate.
Mr Martin, it is understood, told a meeting involving EU leaders, as well as those of Canada, Iceland and Norway that if such a ceasefire was concluded on UN principles which needed to be monitored by peacekeepers in the same way as the current Defence Forces’ mission, Ireland would consider participation.
He is also understood to have raised the need for an accelerated process for Ukraine’s membership of the EU.
The meeting, held remotely over two hours and convened by French president Emmanuel Macron, heard strong support on the need to continue steadfast support for Ukraine.
Mr Martin’s comments reflect an intervention by Tánaiste Simon Harris, who told RTÉ’s News at One programme on Wednesday that, if there was a peacekeeping mission in place, “of course Ireland shouldn’t recuse itself from being part of that conversation”.
[ Analysis: Trump’s dash for a Ukraine deal is a godsend to Vladimir Putin’s regimeOpens in new window ]
Earlier, Mr Trump had dismissed complaints from Ukraine that its future was discussed by senior US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday without any representative of Kyiv being present. He also falsely claimed that Mr Zelenskiy had a four per cent approval rating and should hold elections.
Mr Zelenskiy’s five-year term would have expired last year, but elections are constitutionally barred under the martial law Ukraine introduced to help counter Russia’s invasion; a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology this month found that 57 per cent of Ukrainians in fact trust Mr Zelenskiy; and financial monitors say the US has actually pledged about $183 billion (€176 billion) in aid to Ukraine since 2022.
“We saw this disinformation. We understand it comes from Russia. We understand, and we have evidence that those figures have been discussed between the US and Russia,” Mr Zelenskiy said of Mr Trump’s comments.
“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.”
Mr Trump called Russian president Vladimir Putin last week to launch a rapprochement in relations, and his defence secretary Pete Hegseth told Ukraine not to expect the return of all occupied territory, Nato membership or US peacekeepers as part of any peace deal. The White House and Kremlin have also said they see no obvious role for European powers in talks to end the continent’s biggest war since 1945.
European leaders appear to be struggling to formulate a strong and unified response to Mr Trump’s approach to world affairs in general and Russia and Ukraine in particular.
“We don’t understand the logic very well,” French government spokeswoman Sophie Primas said of what she called “the diverse, varied and often incomprehensible comments by president Trump”.
Retired US general Keith Kellogg, who is Mr Trump’s special envoy on the war, held talks in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“We count on the continued support of the United States for our country … Russia constantly manipulates information, tries to sow division, and spreads lies to turn us against each other,” Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said after meeting Mr Kellogg.
“The principle of ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ is key. We are interested in ensuring that the United States stands on the side of truth and justice, which are on our side.”
