War in Ukraine, caused by Ukraine? This is what Donald Trump, at a press conference during which he launched several spikes at VolodyMyr Zelensky, Tuesday, February 18. Since his residence in Mar-A-Lago, Florida, the American president said he was notably “very disappointed” of the remarks made by his Ukrainian counterpart, who had denounced Russian-American discussions earlier in the day in Arabia Saudi by deploring talks “on Ukraine without Ukraine”.
“I hear that they are angry not to have a seat (at the negotiation table), when they had a seat for three years, and even well before that,” said Donald Trump. Before adding a few minutes later: “Today I heard ‘Oh we were not invited’. Well, you have been there for three years”. “You should have put an end to it three years ago. You should never have started it,” he also launched about the war, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 .
“It is 4 % of favorable opinions”
The billionaire also accused Ukraine of having diverted part of the American aid since the start of the conflict. “President Zelensky told me last week that he did not know where half of the money was given to them,” he argued, before criticizing the absence of elections in elections Ukraine since the Russian invasion. “We have a situation where we have not had elections in Ukraine, where we have a martial law essentially and where the leader of Ukraine – I am sorry to say it – but he is 4 % of opinions favorable, “he replied to the question of whether Washington would support the fact of imposing on kyiv elections, as Russia might want.
The tensions between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky have risen a notch in recent days. In an interview broadcast on Monday by the German public channel Ard, the second had already deplored that the first “wanting to please Putin”. “The problem is that the United States today says things that are very pleasant for Putin. I think that is where the problem is. Because they want to please him,” -Istimed. A change of tone, notes the New York Timeswho stresses that the Ukrainian president “tries to walk on a thread” in the face of the declarations of the Trump administration, avoiding direct criticism. This weekend again, he estimated with the NBC channel that Donald Trump was able to push the Russian president to a cease-fire agreement.
This Tuesday, the tenant of the White House said he was more “confident” in the possibility of an agreement with Moscow on a settlement of the conflict, after the Russian-American meeting in Riyadh. “Russia wants to do something. They want to put an end to wild barbarism,” he said, indicating that he would “probably” meet Vladimir Putin before the end of the month.