President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appealed to the Trump administration on Wednesday to respect the reality and keep away from disinformation in discussing the struggle that started with a Russian invasion of his nation, in his first response to President Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine had started the war.
“I want to have extra reality with the Trump staff,” Mr. Zelensky advised reporters in Kyiv throughout a broader dialogue in regards to the administration, which this week opened peace talks with Russia that excluded Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky stated that the U.S. president was “dwelling in a disinformation area” and in a “circle of disinformation.”
The remarks, delivered from his presidential workplace in Kyiv, a constructing nonetheless fortified with sandbags to keep away from blasts from Russian missiles, had been among the most pointed but about Mr. Trump and his views on the struggle.
Mr. Zelensky had till this week walked a fine line of staking out Ukrainian positions whereas avoiding any suggestion of an open breach with the USA, Ukraine’s most vital ally within the now practically three-year-old struggle. After the preliminary cease-fire talks between Russia and the USA, Mr. Zelensky on Tuesday had starkly laid out his refusal to just accept phrases negotiated with out Ukrainian participation.
Later Tuesday, Mr. Trump stated of Ukraine’s management and the struggle, “It is best to have by no means began it,” and appeared to embrace what has been a Russian demand that Ukraine maintain elections earlier than some levels of talks. Elections had been suspended underneath martial legislation after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Mr. Trump additionally stated that Mr. Zelensky’s approval score was 4 p.c. Mr. Zelensky stated that was not true, citing polls displaying far greater help.
On the information convention, Mr. Zelensky was targeted and spoke with depth. He stated he was not personally ruffled by the negotiations with the Trump administration. “This isn’t my first dialogue or combat,” he stated. “I take it calmly.
Russia, he stated, is clearly happy with the flip of diplomatic developments. “I believe Putin and the Russians are very comfortable, as a result of questions are mentioned with them,” Mr. Zelensky stated.
“Yesterday, there have been alerts of talking with them as victims,” he stated of the Trump officers’ tone in discussing the Russian officers, whose authorities sparked the biggest struggle in Europe since World Conflict II, which has killed or wounded about 1,000,000 individuals on each side over three years. “That’s one thing new.”
