{"id":45366,"date":"2025-02-20T07:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T07:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=45366"},"modified":"2026-07-08T02:22:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T02:22:00","slug":"you-are-dictatortrumps-to-zelenskyy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2025\/02\/20\/you-are-dictatortrumps-to-zelenskyy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You are dictator\u2019;Trumps to Zelenskyy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The US and Ukraine appeared to be heading towards an irreconcilable rift after Donald Trump escalated his attacks on\u00a0Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling the Ukrainian president \u201ca dictator\u201d and warning that he \u201cbetter move fast\u201d or he \u201cwon\u2019t have a country left\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US leader\u2019s comments on Wednesday,\u00a0which were rife with falsehoods, came after Zelenskyy said Trump was \u201ctrapped\u201d in a Russian \u201cdisinformation bubble,\u201d following Trump\u2019s claims that Ukraine was to blame for Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion, remarks that echoed the Kremlin\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a fiery rant on the Truth Social app marking his most direct threat to end the war on terms aligning with Moscow\u2019s goals, Trump wrote: \u201cA Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that Zelenskyy had \u201cdone a terrible job\u201d and accused the Ukrainian president \u2013 without evidence \u2013 of benefiting from continuing US financial and military support, suggesting he had an interest in prolonging the war rather than seeking its end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US president wrote that Zelenskyy, whom he dismissed as \u201ca modestly successful comedian\u201d, had \u201ctalked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a war that couldn\u2019t be won, that never had to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing he was good at was playing Biden \u2018like a fiddle\u2019,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unprecedented escalation of tensions between Kyiv and Washington came after senior US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss the war in\u00a0Ukraine, as well as economic and political cooperation, indicating a fundamental shift in the US approach to Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine and\u00a0Europe\u00a0were excluded from the talks, increasing fears that Trump could push for a peace deal favouring Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are successfully negotiating an end to the War with\u00a0Russia, something all admit only \u2018TRUMP\u2019 and the Trump Administration, can do,\u201d Trump wrote. At a conference in Miami later on Wednesday, Trump claimed Zelenskyy could have attended the Saudi talks \u201cif he wanted\u201d \u2013 Zelenskyy has denied this, and Trump administration officials were clear beforehand that the talks were bilateral between Russia and the US. Trump said on Wednesday that the talks had gone \u201cvery, very well\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy, in a combative press conference in Kyiv, said the US president was pushing \u201ca lot of disinformation coming from Russia\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, President Trump, with all due respect for him as the leader of a nation that we respect greatly \u2026 is trapped in this disinformation bubble,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy\u2019s comments, in turn, were a response to a series of inflammatory remarks on Tuesday evening, in which Trump first criticised him and\u00a0suggested Ukraine was to blame\u00a0for Moscow\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s latest comments will cast serious doubt on future US aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyy has previously said that Ukraine had little chance of survival without support from the US, a key military partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Zelenskyy said he would like Trump\u2019s team to be \u201cmore truthful\u201d, Putin, on the same day, said the US president had begun receiving \u201cobjective information\u201d about the war in Ukraine that led him to \u201cchange his position\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin also said that he \u201chighly rated\u201d the results of the Russia-US summit in Riyadh. \u201cRussia and the US are cooperating on economic issues, energy markets, space, and other areas,\u201d Putin said, adding that he was happy to meet Trump, but \u201cpreparation was necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Truth Social, Trump doubled down on his accusations that Ukraine was at fault for Moscow\u2019s invasion. He also claimed Zelenskyy \u201crefused to hold elections\u201d, and was \u201cvery low in Ukrainian polls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statements aligned closely with the Kremlin\u2019s narrative on Ukraine, and prompted a rare public challenge by Trump\u2019s former vice-president, Mike Pence, who said in a social media post: \u201cMr. President, Ukraine did not \u2018start\u2019 this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a phone call to Zelenskyy late on Wednesday, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, expressed his support for \u201cUkraine\u2019s democratically elected leader\u201d, adding that it was \u201cperfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the UK did during World War II\u201d, a Downing Street spokesperson said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it was \u201cwrong and dangerous\u201d to deny Zelenskyy\u2019s democratic legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Trump claimed Zelenskyy had a 4% approval rating, and called for a new election. On Wednesday Zelenskyy countered: \u201cAs we are talking about 4%, we have seen this disinformation, we understand it\u2019s coming from Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ukrainian president said that he never commented on popularity ratings, \u201cespecially my own or other leaders\u2019\u201d, but added that the latest poll showed a majority of Ukrainians trusted him. He added that any attempt to replace him during the war would fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Zelenskyy\u2019s popularity has declined in recent months, a February poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found that 57% of Ukrainians trusted him, up from 52% a month earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mykhailo Fedorov, the head of Ukraine\u2019s digital affairs ministry, argued on Wednesday that Zelenskyy\u2019s ratings were \u201c4-5%\u201d higher than Trump\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian legislation bans elections during martial law, which has been in place since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Few Ukrainians support the idea of a poll at a time when Russia\u2019s invasion has forced millions to flee abroad, and when Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying on the frontline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine\u2019s parliament, said Ukraine was not \u201cgiving up\u201d on elections. \u201cInventing \u2018democracy\u2019 under shelling is not democracy, but a spectacle in which the main beneficiary is in the Kremlin. Ukraine needs bullets, not ballots,\u201d he wrote on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy also disputed Trump\u2019s comments that most of Ukraine\u2019s support came from the US. \u201cThe truth is somewhere else,\u201d Zelenskyy said, adding that he remained \u201cgrateful for the support\u201d and wanted \u201cthe Trump team to have true facts\u201d. He then said that the US supplied $67bn in weapons and $31.5bn in budget support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussing\u00a0a Trump-led initiative to corner his country\u2019s critical minerals\u00a0as a down-payment for continued military and economic aid, Zelenskyy said that he could not \u201csell Ukraine away\u201d but he was prepared to work \u201con a serious document\u201d if it contained \u201csecurity guarantees\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US had proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine\u2019s critical minerals, but the proposal appeared to lack any security guarantees, such as the deployment of US troops in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy\u2019s team has placed high importance on the need for guarantees from the US that would deter Russia from launching a new invasion once a peace deal was reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, Keith Kellogg, Trump\u2019s Ukraine envoy, arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leaders. He is viewed as Trump\u2019s most pro-Ukraine adviser, albeit one with declining influence. \u201cWe understand the need for security guarantees,\u201d Kellogg told journalists, saying that part of his mission would be \u201cto sit and listen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zelenskyy\u2019s remarks included a challenge to Kellogg to \u201cgo and talk to ordinary Ukrainians about their reception of Trump\u2019s comments\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Keith<\/a>
Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia in Poland on 18 February. Photograph: Kacper Pempel\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Late on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he hoped for a \u201cconstructive\u201d meeting with Kellogg the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, at a second meeting of European leaders in Paris, arranged by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, there were more calls for immediate action to support Ukraine and bolster Europe\u2019s defence capabilities, but few concrete decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macron and Starmer will visit Washington next week, amid other meetings aimed at bringing an end to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, according to the White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Russia\u2019s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who was part of the delegation in Saudi Arabia, hailed Trump for criticising \u201cpathetic\u201d Zelenskyy and welcomed the US president\u2019s claim that past US support for Ukraine\u2019s Nato ambitions was a key factor in sparking the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian officials also seized on Trump\u2019s latest remarks that questioned Zelenskyy\u2019s legitimacy as Ukraine\u2019s president. Pyotr Tolstoy, a senior member of Russia\u2019s State Duma, called Trump\u2019s remarks \u201csignificant\u201d and suggested they would be \u201cof great interest to those who call themselves politicians in Kyiv\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reuters contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US and Ukraine appeared to be heading towards an irreconcilable rift after Donald Trump escalated his attacks on\u00a0Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling the Ukrainian president \u201ca dictator\u201d and warning that he \u201cbetter move fast\u201d or he \u201cwon\u2019t have a country left\u201d. The US leader\u2019s comments on Wednesday,\u00a0which were rife with falsehoods, came after Zelenskyy said Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[11261,6850,948,11394,5178,11967,9264,5268,5249,8924,1425,275,10391,11606,913,10668,11538,9309,6718,685,911,524,5494,159,6621,9505,5468,9127,11638,5345,6351,3577,5573,5910,10954,5252,8331,12483,1152,5342,6843,10342,414,11743,7448,11658,9833,6283,3186,5572,9683,5340,7693,4802,5441,7202,12727,1253,1198,5396,7039,837,11698,3805,3174,71,13301,3457,5217,5713,8160,1364,5655,12778,7211,5349,5618,5470,9277,1898,11325,5353,9178,13182,146,12605,5180,6885,5555,9262,184,6348,11331,694,11255,5251,2354,5724,6571,2982,10415,36,594,7932],"class_list":["post-45366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-accused","tag-aid","tag-aluminium","tag-attacks","tag-biden","tag-bilateral","tag-billion-dollars","tag-british","tag-budget","tag-chance","tag-chancellor","tag-comedian","tag-declined","tag-democracy","tag-democratic","tag-dictator","tag-digital","tag-dollars","tag-downing","tag-downing-street","tag-election","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-energy","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-facebook","tag-february","tag-forced","tag-foreign-minister","tag-french","tag-future","tag-german-chancellor-olaf-scholz","tag-initiative","tag-international","tag-invasion","tag-keir-starmer","tag-kellogg","tag-kremlin","tag-kyiv","tag-lavrov","tag-law","tag-macron","tag-majority","tag-martial","tag-martial-law","tag-meeting","tag-miami","tag-mike-pence","tag-military","tag-millions","tag-moscow","tag-national-security","tag-nato","tag-oil","tag-olaf-scholz","tag-package","tag-paris","tag-parliament","tag-peace","tag-phone","tag-poland","tag-politicians","tag-president","tag-prime-minister","tag-putin","tag-results","tag-russia","tag-russian","tag-sanctions","tag-saudi","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-security","tag-seized","tag-sergei-lavrov","tag-social-media","tag-soldiers","tag-space","tag-speaker","tag-special-envoy","tag-street","tag-trapped","tag-troops","tag-trump-administration","tag-truth","tag-uk","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraines-president","tag-ukrainian","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-president-donald-john-trump-jr","tag-us","tag-us-president","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","tag-war","tag-washington","tag-weapons","tag-white","tag-white-house","tag-work","tag-world","tag-who","tag-zelenskyy"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45369,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45366\/revisions\/45369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}