Trump claims Russia controls Ukraine peace talks
In an interview with the BBC, US President Donald Trump stated that Russia is "having the cards" in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine because it has "taken a lot of territory" of the country, reported the British broadcaster on Thursday.
Speaking to the BBC during a flight from Florida, where he attended a meeting on investments, to Washington, Donald Trump opined that Russia wants to end the war.
Trump: Russia is calling the shots
"I think the Russians want to see the war end. But I think they have the cards a little bit, because, you know, they've taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards," he said. Earlier that day, he twice referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "dictator."
Trump intensified his criticisms of the Ukrainian president after Zelensky claimed that the US president "is living in this disinformation space." Zelensky responded in this way to Trump's assertions that the Ukrainian president had only four per cent support among citizens.
"He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle,'" Trump said.
Zelensky's five-year term was supposed to end in May 2024, but elections have not been scheduled because Ukraine has been under martial law since it was attacked by Russia in February 2022, the BBC reminded. The station cited a poll conducted in early February by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), which showed that 57% of Ukraine's residents have confidence in Zelensky.
Europe criticizes Trump's statements
European leaders criticised Trump's recent statements about Ukraine and its president. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted that "it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy."
