US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.
Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia.
The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia.
Photo: AFP
“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.
“Today I heard: ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.
Zelenskiy earlier on Tuesday criticized the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair” and involve European countries, while postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.
Asked whether the US would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelenskiy to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticizing what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings.
“They want a seat at the table, but you could say ... wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” Trump said.
“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries,” he added.
Zelenskiy was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.
Trump said that his only goal was “peace” to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
He was “much more confident” of a deal after the talks, adding: “They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”
“I think I have the power to end this war and I think it’s going very well,” he said.
The US leader added that he was “all for” European peacekeepers in Ukraine if he can strike a deal to end the war.
“If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it,” he said.
“I know France was willing to do that, and I thought that was a beautiful gesture,” Trump said, adding that Britain had made a similar offer.
The US would not have to contribute “because, you know, we’re very far away,” he said.
Trump last week announced that he had spoken to Putin, and that the two leaders had agreed to start peace talks and to travel to meet each other in Moscow and Washington.
The US president said they would hold a first meeting, most likely also in Saudi Arabia.
Although no date has been announced, when asked if he would met Putin before the end of the month, Trump said “probably.”
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