Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump have traded accusations over the Russia–Ukraine war and how Zelenskyy’s team is faring nearly three years into the conflict.
“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 in a Feb. 19 social media post.
He made the comments one day after a U.S. delegation met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss a peace settlement in the Ukraine conflict and improve U.S.–Russia relations more broadly. Ukrainian representatives were not present, and Zelenskyy has sought to distance himself from the meeting and its outcomes.
In Wednesday’s social media post, Trump said Zelenskyy is faring poorly in Ukrainian public opinion polls and called the Ukrainian leader a dictator as the country continues to postpone its regular election schedule.
Under normal circumstances, Zelenskyy would have been up for reelection last spring, but Ukrainian law does not allow elections during a state of martial law. The Kyiv government has extended its martial law status continuously since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“[Zelenskyy] refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing [President Joe Biden] ‘like a fiddle,’” Trump said. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
In remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the previous day, Trump said some polls showed Zelenskyy with an approval rating as low as 4 percent.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Trump was being swayed by disinformation and was undermining efforts to isolate Russia diplomatically.
“We saw this disinformation,” Zelenskyy said in remarks cited by the Kyiv Independent. “We understand it comes from Russia.”
He also warned against attempts to remove him from power in a time of war.
“I would like Trump’s team to have more truth because all of this certainly does not benefit Ukraine. It helps bring [Russian President Vladimir Putin] out of isolation. And I think that Putin and the Russians are very pleased that issues are being discussed with them,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
This is a developing report and will be updated with additional details.
