Zelensky shouldn’t speak for Ukraine – Trump
Ukraine needs a new representative to negotiate peace with Russia as Vladimir Zelensky “doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” US President Donald Trump has said. He added that he is ready to discuss a resolution to the conflict with Russia and China.
The statement comes amid a deepening rift between Trump and Zelensky over Ukraine’s continued targeting of Russian refineries after the US president struck a deal with Moscow aimed at reining in skyrocketing global energy prices through Russian diesel exports.
“Zelensky’s a man that should have this war settled a long time ago,” Trump told reporters on Monday when asked about the Ukrainian leader’s criticism of his deal with President Vladimir Putin.
“Zelensky doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Trump said. “To be honest, I think it’s time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. Maybe it’s time for Zelensky to get someone else to negotiate.”
The agreement between Trump and Putin reached earlier this month involves the US easing restrictions on Russian diesel exports and waiving the ‘bone-crushing’ sanctions, including 500% tariffs on imports from Russia and 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, in exchange for Russia supplying diesel to the global market and potentially to the US as well.
Ukraine has continued to target Russian oil infrastructure despite repeated demands by Trump to stop the attacks, which he blames for surging global energy prices. On Monday, he reiterated that Ukraine is behaving ungratefully.
“We’ve given a lot to Ukraine, they’ve given nothing to us… We’ve given hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said.
Asked if he is ready to negotiate a settlement of the Ukraine conflict with Russia and China without Zelensky present, Trump said he just wants the conflict to end and will do “anything I can do to end the war, whether somebody is there or not.”
Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin, Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping could meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month.
Trump’s remarks follow a series of similar statements in recent days. Over the weekend, he said Zelensky “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”
On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Zelensky has “no desire” to reach a settlement because his government would collapse if Ukraine signed a deal that’s acceptable to both the US and Russia.
Russia has long accused Ukraine’s Western backers, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks in Istanbul. Russia has also identified the stance of Ukraine’s European backers as one of the key obstacles to resolving the conflict.
