US President Donald Trump has said that he is “not happy” with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and the way he is handling the conflict with Russia.
During a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Thursday, a reporter suggested that Trump held Zelensky responsible for the conflict with Russia.
“I don’t hold Zelensky responsible, but I’m not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started,” Trump replied. “So I’m not happy with him. And I’m not happy with anybody involved.”
Trump went on to say that Russia has a “bigger military force” than Ukraine. “If you’re smart, you don’t get involved in wars … I’m not blaming him, but what I am saying is that I wouldn’t say he’s done the greatest job, OK? I am not a big fan.”
Trump once again claimed that the conflict would not have started under his watch and blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Although Trump has criticized Russia at times, he has repeatedly argued that Zelensky failed to conclude a peace deal with Moscow. “You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” he said on Monday.
During a heated exchange at the White House in February, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for American aid and “gambling with World War III.”
The US president and his negotiators stated that they are aiming to broker a ceasefire as soon as possible and to sign a deal on extracting profits from Ukraine’s mineral wealth. Trump has declined to provide specific security guarantees to Kiev.
Vance said this week that Zelensky’s claims that the Trump administration was peddling Russian narratives were “absurd.”
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