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Then-presidential nominee Donald Trump and Ukraininan President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet at Trump Tower in New York, the US, September 27 2024. Picture: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON
Washington/Kyiv — US President Donald Trump has denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” and warned on Wednesday that he had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country.
Trump’s comments deepen a feud between the two leaders that has alarmed European officials.
The extraordinary attack on Wednesday — a day after Trump claimed Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s 2022 invasion — heightened concerns among the US’s European allies that Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war could benefit Moscow.
Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended the US’s policy on the war, ending a campaign to isolate Russia with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and talks between senior US and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine.
“A dictator without elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a country left,” Trump wrote on social media.
In response, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said no-one could force his country to give in. “We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha said on X.
Later in the day while speaking to investors and executives in Miami, Trump doubled down on his comments, again calling Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting the Ukrainian president wanted to prolong the war to “keep the gravy train going”, a reference to US military aid.
Zelensky’s five-year term was supposed to end in 2024, but elections cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion.
Trump’s outburst followed Zelensky’s comments on Tuesday that the US president was parroting Russian disinformation when he asserted that Ukraine “should never have started” the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
US vice-president JD Vance has warned Zelensky against “badmouthing” Trump.
“Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance said in his West Wing office, the Daily Mail reported.
Russia has seized about 20% of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining territory in the east. Moscow said its “special military operation” responded to an existential threat posed by Kyiv’s pursuit of membership of defence alliance Nato. Ukraine and the West call Russia's action an imperialist land grab.
The Ukrainian leader said Trump’s assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail.
“We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told Ukrainian TV.
The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, found 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky.
After Trump’s latest remarks, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Zelensky “sits in office after duly-held elections”. When asked who started the war, Dujarric responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “false and dangerous” for Trump to call Zelensky a dictator, German newspaper Spiegel reported.
US ally Australia, which has provided A$1.5bn in support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, rejected Trump’s assertions about Ukraine. Australian defence minister Richard Marles said: “The war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine’s terms, because the aggressor here is Russia.”
The country’s opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said bluntly: “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.”
A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress said they disagreed that Zelensky was a dictator and that Ukraine bore responsibility for Russia’s invasion. But they stopped short of criticising Trump directly, with Senate majority leader John Thune — a staunch supporter of Ukraine — saying Trump needed “space” to work on a peace deal.
Zelensky has suggested giving US companies the right to extract valuable minerals in Ukraine in return for security guarantees.
He rejected a US proposal last week that would have seen Washington receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, including lithium, a key component in electric car batteries. Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was too focused on US interests, saying: “I can’t sell our country.”
Trump claimed Ukraine had “more or less” agreed to the proposal and complained that US treasury secretary Scott Bessent was treated “rather rudely” while visiting Kyiv. He said he would seek to resurrect the minerals deal and that Europe must step up to guarantee any ceasefire deal.
European officials have been left shocked and flat-footed by the Trump administration’s Ukraine moves in recent days.
At a second meeting of European leaders in Paris, hastily arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, there were more calls for immediate action to support Ukraine and bolster Europe’s defence capabilities, but few concrete decisions.
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, according to White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
After Trump’s latest attacks, Zelensky discussed approaches to a peace settlement with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, Macron and Starmer, including the importance of security guarantees. Starmer expressed support for Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader, the British leader’s office said.
Keith Kellogg, the US Ukraine envoy who travelled to Kyiv on Wednesday to meet Zelensky said he understood “the need for security guarantees”, adding that part of his mission would be “to sit and listen”.
The 27-member EU on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.
Trump said he might meet Putin this month. In Moscow, Putin said Ukraine would not be barred from peace negotiations, but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.
Putin, speaking a day after talks between Russian and US officials in Riyadh, said it would take time to set up a summit with Trump, which both men have said they want.
Ukraine and European governments were not invited to Tuesday’s talks in the Saudi capital, which magnified their concern that Russia and the US might cut a deal that ignores their security interests.
Ukraine was counting on “the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America”, Zelensky said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Trump doubles down on ‘dictator’ Zelensky jibe
Washington/Kyiv — US President Donald Trump has denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator” and warned on Wednesday that he had to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country.
Trump’s comments deepen a feud between the two leaders that has alarmed European officials.
The extraordinary attack on Wednesday — a day after Trump claimed Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s 2022 invasion — heightened concerns among the US’s European allies that Trump’s approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine war could benefit Moscow.
Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended the US’s policy on the war, ending a campaign to isolate Russia with a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and talks between senior US and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine.
“A dictator without elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a country left,” Trump wrote on social media.
In response, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said no-one could force his country to give in. “We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha said on X.
Later in the day while speaking to investors and executives in Miami, Trump doubled down on his comments, again calling Zelensky a “dictator” and suggesting the Ukrainian president wanted to prolong the war to “keep the gravy train going”, a reference to US military aid.
Zelensky’s five-year term was supposed to end in 2024, but elections cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion.
Trump’s outburst followed Zelensky’s comments on Tuesday that the US president was parroting Russian disinformation when he asserted that Ukraine “should never have started” the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
US vice-president JD Vance has warned Zelensky against “badmouthing” Trump.
“Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance said in his West Wing office, the Daily Mail reported.
Russia has seized about 20% of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining territory in the east. Moscow said its “special military operation” responded to an existential threat posed by Kyiv’s pursuit of membership of defence alliance Nato. Ukraine and the West call Russia's action an imperialist land grab.
The Ukrainian leader said Trump’s assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail.
“We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told Ukrainian TV.
The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, found 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky.
After Trump’s latest remarks, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Zelensky “sits in office after duly-held elections”. When asked who started the war, Dujarric responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “false and dangerous” for Trump to call Zelensky a dictator, German newspaper Spiegel reported.
US ally Australia, which has provided A$1.5bn in support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, rejected Trump’s assertions about Ukraine. Australian defence minister Richard Marles said: “The war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine’s terms, because the aggressor here is Russia.”
The country’s opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said bluntly: “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.”
A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress said they disagreed that Zelensky was a dictator and that Ukraine bore responsibility for Russia’s invasion. But they stopped short of criticising Trump directly, with Senate majority leader John Thune — a staunch supporter of Ukraine — saying Trump needed “space” to work on a peace deal.
Zelensky has suggested giving US companies the right to extract valuable minerals in Ukraine in return for security guarantees.
He rejected a US proposal last week that would have seen Washington receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, including lithium, a key component in electric car batteries. Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was too focused on US interests, saying: “I can’t sell our country.”
Trump claimed Ukraine had “more or less” agreed to the proposal and complained that US treasury secretary Scott Bessent was treated “rather rudely” while visiting Kyiv. He said he would seek to resurrect the minerals deal and that Europe must step up to guarantee any ceasefire deal.
European officials have been left shocked and flat-footed by the Trump administration’s Ukraine moves in recent days.
At a second meeting of European leaders in Paris, hastily arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, there were more calls for immediate action to support Ukraine and bolster Europe’s defence capabilities, but few concrete decisions.
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, according to White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
After Trump’s latest attacks, Zelensky discussed approaches to a peace settlement with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, Macron and Starmer, including the importance of security guarantees. Starmer expressed support for Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader, the British leader’s office said.
Keith Kellogg, the US Ukraine envoy who travelled to Kyiv on Wednesday to meet Zelensky said he understood “the need for security guarantees”, adding that part of his mission would be “to sit and listen”.
The 27-member EU on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.
Trump said he might meet Putin this month. In Moscow, Putin said Ukraine would not be barred from peace negotiations, but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.
Putin, speaking a day after talks between Russian and US officials in Riyadh, said it would take time to set up a summit with Trump, which both men have said they want.
Ukraine and European governments were not invited to Tuesday’s talks in the Saudi capital, which magnified their concern that Russia and the US might cut a deal that ignores their security interests.
Ukraine was counting on “the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America”, Zelensky said.
Reuters
Ukraine not to blame for war with Russia, says Scholz
Zelensky says Trump trapped in Russian disinformation bubble
Moscow makes new demand as Russia and US meet without Ukraine
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