President Donald Trump said Friday it was unimportant for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be in meetings to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war—escalating a feud that began earlier this week after Zelensky rejected a deal to give the U.S. rights to some of Ukraine’s mineral resources.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky (L) arrives to give a press conference on the sideline of a ... [+]
Trump said “I don’t think [Zelensky’s] very important to be at meetings” and “makes it very hard to make deals” during an interview Friday, telling Fox Radio Zelensky “has no cards” and he’s “had it” with what Trump described as a resistance to negotiate.
Trump refused to say that Russia bears responsibility for the death and destruction in Ukraine caused by the war when pressed repeatedly by host Brian Kilmeade and instead criticized Zelensky’s leadership.
Trump made the comments after calling Zelensky a “dictator without elections” on Wednesday, hours after Zelensky said Trump was “caught in a web of disinformation,” suggesting he was parroting Russian propaganda about the war.
Zelensky also criticized the U.S. for excluding Ukraine from peace talks between Russian and U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week.
Separate from the negotiations with Russia, Trump was reportedly angered by Zelensky’s refusal earlier this month to accept a deal for the U.S. to secure rights to some of Ukraine’s mineral resources.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 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,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.
Zelensky won his 2019 election with 73% of the vote. Ukraine is under martial law amid its war with Russia, prohibiting new elections originally set for last spring from being held.
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Friday during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference he anticipated Ukraine will sign a new minerals deal with the U.S. “in the very short term.” Zelensky said earlier this month he rejected the initial deal because he can’t allow Ukraine to “give away” 50% of its rare minerals, adding “I cannot sell our state.”
Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that Ukraine may have to cede some of its territory to Russia in order to end the war, has drawn criticism for years for his publicly cordial relationship and attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this week, Putin praised the Trump administration for what he described as “friendly” negotiations in Riyadh. Drawing a contrast with the Biden administration, Putin said Trump officials “were open to the negotiation process without any bias, without any condemnation of what had been done in the past.” Zelensky, in turn, accused Trump of having “helped Putin out of his long isolation” by holding the talks without inviting Ukraine.
European leaders expressed support for Zelensky after Trump called him a “dictator.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said Zelensky is “Ukraine’s democratically elected leader,” while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky democratic legitimacy.”
Zelensky Says He Won’t Accept Any Russia Deal Trump Makes Without Ukraine (Forbes)