Trump, Zelenskyy And The War Of Words
Since the beginning of Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, United States has sided with Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Things took sharp turn when US President Donald Trump called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator” as the rift between them deepens over Ukraine peace negotiations. Trump also said that Kyiv started the war with Russia. Trump’s “dictator” remark came when Zelenskyy challenged the claim, and spoke against being left out of the Russia-US talks held in the Saudi Arabia.
Trump launched a scathing attack on Zelenskyy, accusing him of taking US money and embroiling the country in an endless conflict.
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Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that Zelenskyy is a “moderately successful comedian”, has “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”. Speaking of the funding to Ukraine, he said, “The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe”.
Continuing further, Trump said: Zelenskyy “refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle’”. He said the Ukrainian leader has done a “terrible job” as the leader of Ukraine, deeming him “A Dictator without Elections”.
The US leader also boasted about ending the three-year long war. He said, “In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going”.
Earlier this week, diplomats from Russia and the US held the first face-to-face talks since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago. After four hours of talks, the two sides agreed to form a team to work on ending the war. The diplomats also agreed to revive ties between the countries which went record low since the beginning of war in 2022.
Trump’s “dictator” claim came a day after Zelenskyy said that former was inhabiting a “Russian-made disinformation space” regarding the war in Ukraine.
“The reason that Donald Trump is doing this is that he is notoriously thin-skinned. And he is not happy about the comments that Volodymyr Zelenskyy made earlier”, said White House correspondent, Kimberly Halkett, as quoted by media.
“Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it… You should have never started it. You could have made a deal”, Trump attacked Zelenskyy.
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The war of words between the two leaders started when US decided to hold talks with Russia, without Ukrainian representation. Trump also talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy asserted that with the help of European nations, Kyiv was indeed represented at the Riyadh talk.
Russia has been isolated by US and Europe after the start of the war. Reportedly, Europe believe that a deal without Ukraine would make them vulnerable to Russian aggression. Zelenskyy accused the Trump administration of bringing Moscow out of isolation. He said Russia could not be trusted. “This isn’t positive for Ukraine. What it does is that they’re bringing Putin out of isolation, and the Russians are happy because the discussion focuses on them”, he said.
Zelenskyy’s five year term as Ukraine’s leader was due to end in May 2024. However, elections have been suspended after martial law was declared following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the East European nation. In terms of Zelenskyy’s approval rating in the war-torn country, at the end of 2024, 52 percent of Ukrainians said they trusted him, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
Donald Trump’s claim that it was Ukraine which started the war appears contradictory. Reportedly, Russia sent troops inside Ukraine as part of what it called a “special military operation” and has since captured nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
(With inputs from agencies)
