Donald Trump has claimed that Russia has “the cards” in peace talks because of the territory they have taken in Ukraine.
Speaking to the BBC, the US president said he believes Russia wants to see the war end. “I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory. They have the cards,” he said.
When asked if he trusts that Russia wants peace, Mr Trump said “I do”.
Earlier in the day, Mr Zelenskiy said Mr Trump was living in a “disinformation space”, while others have accused the president of repeating Russian talking points.
Keir Starmer backed Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a phone call on Wednesday night after Mr Trump’s claims that the Ukrainian president was “a dictator without elections”.
In the call, the UK Prime Minister gave Mr Zelenskiy his support “as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader” and said it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during the second World War”, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
The call followed a war of words between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskiy, with the US president criticising his Ukrainian counterpart for postponing elections and incorrectly claiming Ukraine started the war with Russia.
Mr Zelenskiy was elected as president of Ukraine in May 2019.
Elections were previously scheduled to go ahead in 2024, but they were not held as a result of martial law being in place.
Mr Trump repeated his attacks on Mr Zelenskiy when he spoke at the Future Investment Initiative Forum, an organisation run by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, in Miami on Wednesday.
“He refuses to have elections, he’s slow. And the real Ukrainian polls, I mean, how can you be high when every city is being demolished? It’s hard to be,” he said.
“Somebody said, ‘oh no, his polls are good’. Give me a break. Every city is being demolished. They look like a demolition site. Every single one of them ... in the meantime, we’re successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia.”
Mr Trump criticised Mr Zelenskiy for being “upset” that he was excluded from Ukraine-Russia peace talks when talks were held in Saudi Arabia between Russia and the US.
“He’s very upset. That he wasn’t invited to Saudi Arabia. But he’s been working for three years. There’s never been even meetings or phone calls to stop this war. It’s a horrible thing now,” he said.
“I love Ukraine. But Zelenskiy has done a terrible job. His country is shattered and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died. And you can’t bring a war to an end if you don’t talk to both sides. You got to talk. They haven’t been talking for three years.”
Mr Trump took to Trump Social after the speech to share a quote from Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk which said: “The President’s instincts on Ukraine are absolutely right. It is really sad that so many parents have lost their sons, and so many sons their fathers in this pointless war.”
The spat between the two men comes at a delicate moment in global politics after US and Russian officials met for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to begin talks aimed at brokering a peace deal in Ukraine.
Alex Younger, whose tenure as head of MI6 covered Mr Trump’s first term as president, warned that the president’s comments would be “emboldening” for Vladimir Putin, adding that the Russians “probably” believed he agreed with them.
He told the BBC’s Newsnight programme: “I saw this happen in Afghanistan where he gave away the biggest concessions before we even started.
“It’s a strange art of the deal, honestly.”
Mr Starmer is expected to travel to Washington next week for talks with Mr Trump, including on Ukraine and European security, with French President Emmanuel Macron reported to be heading to the White House in the same week.
The meeting will be Mr Starmer’s first with Mr Trump since his inauguration as US president in January, and will see Britain attempt to balance its support for Ukraine with the need to keep the White House onside.
In South Africa, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is attending a two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers and is expected to directly criticise the Kremlin and emphasise the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine, as well as addressing other areas.
In advance of the meeting, Mr Lammy said: “At this precarious geopolitical moment, we must work with the widest possible coalition of countries to stand up for Ukraine, build stability in the Middle East and act urgently on Sudan and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).”
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin told the BBC he believes Mr Zelenskiy should hold an election and rejected the idea of foreign peacekeeping troops being allowed in Ukraine in the event of any peace deal.
Mr Trump’s comments have also sparked anger from leaders abroad.
“It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskiy democratic legitimacy,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told news outlet Der Spiegel.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said that “the war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine’s terms, because the aggressor here is Russia”, while Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton said: “I think President Trump has got it wrong.”
“Australia should stand strong and proud with the people of Ukraine. It’s a democracy, and this is a fight for civilisation. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, and we shouldn’t be giving him an inch,” Mr Dutton said. – PA
