Volodymyr Zelensky has not made serious efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, he is probably mostly interested in Kiev continuing to receive funds from Western countries, believes US President Donald Trump.
The American leader stressed that Zelensky has “done a terrible job“. “He has worked for three years. There were not even meetings or phone calls to stop this war. “It's terrible”, Trump said on Wednesday at an investment forum in Miami, Florida.
Trump assured that he is striving to resolve the conflict. According to him, former US President Joe Biden “never tried” end the conflict, “Europe has failed to secure peace and Zelensky may want the easy money to keep coming“. “I don't know what the problem is, but he couldn't“, Trump added, saying that Zelensky had not done enough to resolve the problem.
“He's very upset that he wasn't invited. He could have come if he wanted to“, the American leader stressed, speaking about the talks between the Russian and American delegations that took place in Riyadh on February 18. At the same time, Trump confirmed that Zelensky “was not invited to Saudi Arabia“.
“The talks between the Russian and American delegations in Riyadh went very well and were a big step forward”, Trump said.
The head of the Washington administration expressed gratitude to the crown prince of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, for “hosting these historic talks, which went very, very well“.
“This is a big step forward. We have to stop this war,” Trump added.
The US president had previously said that Zelensky's approval rating had fallen to 4% and that Ukraine should hold elections if it wanted a seat at the peace table. In response, Zelensky said that Trump had fallen victim to Russian disinformation. On Wednesday evening, Trump called Zelensky a dictator for refusing to hold elections, again citing his "extremely low approval rating".
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long pointed to Zelensky's illegitimacy as head of state. The Ukrainian constitution does not provide for the postponement of presidential elections during martial law, and under this pretext, Kiev refused to hold the vote, so for Moscow, Zelensky's powers expired on May 20, 2024.