Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded Wednesday to President Donald Trump’s accusation overnight that Ukraine started its war with Russia, saying that Trump is trapped in a Russian “disinformation” bubble and adding that Ukraine was not for sale.
Zelenskyy said that American demands that Ukraine should hand more than $500 billion in minerals to the U.S. was “not a serious conversation.” He spoke to reporters shortly before he was expected to meet with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
The verbal sparring escalated between Trump and the ally whose efforts to defend itself American tax payers have helped support for several years when later Wednesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that Zelenskyy is “a Dictator without Elections” and took credit for early steps to negotiate an end to the war.
U.S. officials and their Russian counterparts met in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss an end to the war after refusing to include Ukraine or other European countries in the talks.
The response followed Trump’s comments Tuesday that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s invasion of the country three years ago, a comment echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric. Trump also argued that Kyiv could have made a deal to avoid the conflict or stop it in the time since.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort late Tuesday, Trump said he believed he had the power to end the war in Ukraine, “but today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years.”
“You should have never started it,” he added. “You could have made a deal.”
Trump’s recent comments and willingness to negotiate with Russia without the presence of Ukrainian officials have flipped the United States’ script on Putin and the Russian government, and has shocked Ukraine and its European allies.
Kellogg told reporters he is in Ukraine to hear Zelenskyy’s concerns about the negotiations.
“Part of my mission is to sit and listen and say, “OK, what are your concerns?” Get the answers and go back to the United States, talk to President Trump, Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio and the rest of the team to just ensure that we get this one right,” Kellogg said.
