LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated President Donald Trump is in a “disinformation area” as public recriminations between the 2 leaders deepened on Wednesday amid nascent talks to finish Russia’s three-year-old full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The collection of assaults, Zelenskyy urged, have been knowledgeable partially by “disinformation,” which the Ukrainian president stated “comes from Russia — and we’ve proof.”
Trump known as Zelenskyy a “dictator with out elections,” claiming — with out offering proof — that his Ukrainian counterpart’s approval ranking was as little as 4%. Trump additionally wrote on Reality Social that Zelenskyy “higher transfer quick or he’s not going to have a Nation left.”
Trump’s obvious push for brand spanking new elections in Ukraine aligns with longstanding Kremlin speaking factors framing Zelenskyy as an “illegitimate” chief unsuitable for peace talks.
President Donald Trump in Washington, Feb. 13, 2025, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich, Feb. 15, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, Feb. 19, 2025.
Getty Photographs/AP
Ukraine’s newest presidential election was scheduled to be held in 2024, however was postponed because of Russia’s conflict on the nation. Ukraine’s structure stipulates that elections can’t be held below martial regulation, which was launched inside hours of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to weaponize the delay to undermine Kyiv. “You’ll be able to negotiate with anybody, however due to his illegitimacy, he has no proper to signal something,” Putin stated of Zelenskyy in January.
The nation’s parliament and its speaker “stay the one reputable authorities in Ukraine,” Putin declared in Could 2024, the month that was alleged to mark the tip of Zelenskyy’s time period.
Trump’s broadside towards Zelenskyy included a name for brand spanking new elections, regardless of the continuing conflict. “That is not a Russia factor, that is one thing coming from me and coming from many different international locations additionally,” Trump stated.
Dmitry Medvedev — Russia’s former president, prime minister and a longstanding high ally of Putin — was gleeful in his response to Trump’s most up-to-date remarks.
“Should you’d advised me simply three months in the past that these have been the phrases of the US president, I’d have laughed out loud,” Medvedev — who’s now the deputy chairman of Russia’s safety council — wrote on X. Trump, he added, “is 200 p.c proper,” describing Zelenskyy as a “bankrupt clown.”
Russia’s ambassador to the U.Ok., Andrei Kelin, additionally celebrated the U.S. pivot. “For the primary time we’ve seen that they don’t seem to be merely saying that that is Russian propaganda and disinformation,” he advised the BBC.
“They’ve listened and so they hear what we’re saying,” Kelin stated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Kamchatka Territory Governor Vladimir Solodov throughout their assembly on the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 17, 2025.
Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Picture by way of AP
Trump urged this week that Ukraine’s long-time need to hitch NATO was a significant trigger for Russia’s 2022 invasion. The assertion gained him extra reward in Russia.
“He’s the primary, and thus far, in my view, the one Western chief who has publicly and loudly stated that one of many root causes of the Ukrainian state of affairs was the impudent line of the earlier administration to attract Ukraine into NATO,” Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov advised lawmakers.
Like Moscow, Trump and his home allies look like presenting Zelenskyy as a key obstacle to peace.
Vice President JD Vance stated the Ukrainian chief’s “badmouthing” of Trump was an “atrocious” option to work together with the administration.
“We clearly love the Ukrainian folks,” he advised the Day by day Mail. “We admire the bravery of the troopers, however we clearly assume that this conflict wants to return to a speedy shut.”
“That’s the coverage of the President of america,” Vance stated. “It’s not primarily based on Russian disinformation. It is primarily based on the truth that Donald Trump, I believe, is aware of lots about geopolitics and has a really sturdy view, and has had a robust view for a really very long time.”
Trump confidante Steve Bannon, in the meantime, advised Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper he believed Zelenskyy is “completed.”
“In fact, if he decides to simply accept the phrases of the settlement with Russia, he shall be welcome, however he now not has the facility to dictate them,” Bannon stated.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offers a press convention in Kyiv on Feb. 19, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tetiana Dzhafarova/POOL/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Russian officers, in the meantime, additionally framed Kyiv as the important thing obstacle to peace.
“The Ukrainian aspect is virtually prepared to make use of any device that shall be geared toward stopping or stopping dialogue and stopping the seek for a state of affairs for a political and diplomatic settlement,” Rodion Miroshnik, an ambassador-at-large for Russia’s International Ministry, advised state tv on Thursday, as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass information company.
A number of of Kyiv’s European companions, in the meantime, expressed deep concern over the the most recent developments.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “harassed the necessity for everybody to work collectively,” in an announcement, expressing “his help for President Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s democratically elected chief.” Starmer stated it was “completely affordable to droop elections throughout conflict time because the U.Ok. did throughout World Battle II.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated it was “merely mistaken and harmful to disclaim President Zelenskyy democratic legitimacy.”
ABC Information’ Molly Nagle and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
