Donald Trump appears to have blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion of the country three years ago, telling Zelensky “You should never have started it” and dismissing his anger at being cut out of peace talks. The Mail has more.
“You should never have started it,” the US President said of Kyiv as he took aim at the Ukrainian President for raising concerns that his country had not been at the table in talks between Washington and Moscow on Tuesday.
“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. But today, I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years.
“You should have ended it. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine,” Trump told a news conference.
After the meeting between US and Russian officials in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump said he was “much more confident” that a peace deal could be struck.
“They were very good,” he said. “Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”
The stunning claim came as Vladimir Putin’s forces launched a blistering aerial attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight, striking a children’s clinic and kindergarten and leaving much of the city without power.
As fears mount that Washington could force Kyiv into an agreement it doesn’t want, Zelensky said yesterday that he will never accept a deal made without Ukraine’s input, and hit out at the US and Russia for holding talks “behind our backs”.
But Trump responded furiously to his comments, further attacking Zelensky at last night’s press conference in Mar-a-Lago by saying it had been “too long” since Ukraine had held elections for him to have a seat at the table.
Trump insisted this point was “not a demand from Russia”, but “something that comes from me and from many other countries”.
However the claim is straight out of Moscow’s playbook – and failed to mention that Russia’s recent election in 2024 was rigged, with Putin’s foes killed, jailed or exiled, with votes distorted and the media muzzled to give him a landslide victory.
Trump went on to falsely claim that Zelensky is only supported by 4% of Ukrainians. [He said: “He’s down at 4% approval rating.”]
When asked about European countries potentially sending troops to Ukraine, Trump said yesterday: “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it… I mean, I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, the UK has mentioned it.”
However, he added: “We won’t have to put any over there because, you know, we’re very far away.”
Sir Keir Starmer called for the US to provide a “backstop” for any deal in Ukraine, saying that a security guarantee from Washington would be “the only way to effectively deter Russia” from rebuilding its forces and launching another attack.
As US special representative Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv, Zelensky slammed Trump’s team in Saudi Arabia, saying they had been blinded by Putin’s “pathological liars”.
Referring to the overnight onslaught on Odesa, the Ukrainian leader said: “Just yesterday, after the infamous meeting in Riyadh, it became known that Russian representatives had once again lied about not allegedly striking the energy sector.
“Almost at the same time, there was another strike, strike drones against electrical transformers.
“And this was in winter, when it was minus six degrees Celsius at night. At least 160,000 Odessans are now without heat and electricity.
“Thirteen schools, a kindergarten, and several hospitals are left without heating and electricity.
“Repair crews are working, all utilities are involved. I am grateful to every rescuer, everyone who helps people.
“We must remember that Russia is ruled by pathological liars, and they cannot be trusted – they must be pressured for the sake of peace.”
Worth reading in full.
Zelensky this morning replied that Trump is “living in a disinformation space” created by Moscow and said: “I can’t sell our state”:
Volodymyr Zelensky has blasted the United States for “helping” Vladimir Putin “to come out of isolation”, warning that Donald Trump “is living in a disinformation space” created by Moscow.
The Ukrainian President declared that his country is not for sale, disputing Trump’s claims that the US has given Ukraine $500billion and calling the suggestion that Kyiv pay this back with a mineral exploration deal “not a serious conversation”.
“Look, we all want a victory, and we want Trump to win, and we want Ukraine to win, all of us to succeed,” he said. “But there is nothing clear here… I am protecting Ukraine. I can’t sell it away. I can’t sell our state.”
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