The European Union has hit back at US President Donald Trump's accusations that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is a "dictator", reports "Agence France-Presse".
Trump criticized Zelensky after Washington made efforts for peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Kremlin's three-year war.
"We have a pretty clear position on this issue: President Zelensky was legitimately elected in free, fair and democratic elections," emphasized EU spokesman Stephane de Keersmaeker.
"Ukraine is a democracy, Putin's Russia is not," he summarized.
Trump's attacks on the Ukrainian leader have heightened concerns in Europe that Washington is abandoning its ally Kiev to secure a quick deal with Moscow. The EU has insisted that Ukraine and Europe have a say in the talks. "There can be no solution for Ukraine without Ukraine's participation, nor without the participation of the European Union," de Kersmaaker said. Ukraine's security is the security of the European Union, he added. Yesterday, Trump said Zelensky was a "dictator without elections" who must act quickly or lose his country - unthinkable rhetoric from a US leader for most of Russia's three-year war. Trump has been pushing for a quick deal to end the war in Ukraine and has alarmed European allies by leaving them and Ukraine out of initial talks with Russia and blaming Kiev for Russia's invasion in 2022. In response, European leaders have vowed to increase defense spending, and some are considering creating a U.S.-backed European peacekeeping force for Ukraine, a plan that the Kremlin says is a major cause for concern but which Zelensky welcomes.