Donald Trump says he believes that Russia “has cards” in all peace talks to end the war in Ukraine because they “took a lot of territory”.
The American president told the BBC that he had confidence that Moscow wanted to see the end of the war, that Russia had started when he led a large -scale invasion almost three years ago.
Trump returned to Washington DC after talking at an investment meeting supported by Arabia in Florida, where he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” for the second time in a day.
Trump was angry after Zelensky, reacting to the American-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia from which kyiv was excluded, said the American president “lived in a” disinformation space “governed by Moscow.
“I think the Russians want to see the war late, I really do it. I think they have a little cards because they have taken a lot of territory. They have the cards,” Trump said BBC on Air Air Force One.
When he was asked if he trusted Russia to be peace, Trump said “I do it”.
He spoke after raising himself in Zelensky in Florida, where Trump qualified the Ukrainian president as “dictator”, just hours after having used the same word in a social post of truth.
A White House official said that Trump’s post was in direct response to the comments of Zelensky’s “disinformation”.
“He refuses to have elections. He is low in real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high with the demolition of each city?” Trump said in Florida.
Zelensky’s five -year term had to end in May 2024. However, Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia launched its large -scale invasion in February 2022 and the elections were suspended.
Trump tried to make a problem with the popularity of Zelensky, saying that the Ukrainian president had only 4%approval rating. But the BBC checks the reports according to which the survey carried out this month found 57% of Ukrainians said they had trusted the president.
The “dictator” insult quickly caused criticism of European leaders, notably the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said “it is simply false and dangerous to refuse President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy”.
On Tuesday, US and Russian officials had their first high -level face -to -face talks since Russia’s large -scale invasion. Ukraine has not been invited.
Trump then seemed to blame Ukraine for the war, declaring “you should never have started. You could have concluded an agreement”.
In response, Zelensky accused Russia of lying during the “notorious meeting” on Tuesday.
“With all the respect due to President Donald Trump as a leader … He lives in this disinformation space,” he said.
