Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as the latter denounced former as "a dictator without elections" and said the Ukrainian leader better move fast to secure a peace or he would have no country left.
Trump spoke hours after Zelenskiy hit back at his suggestion that Ukraine was responsible for Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, saying the US president was trapped in a Russian disinformation bubble.
"A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform. Zelenskiy, who met Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Wednesday, said he would like Trump's team to have "more truth" about Ukraine, a day after Trump said Ukraine "should never have started" the conflict with Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said Trump's assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail. "We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space," Zelenskiy told Ukrainian TV.
The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, says 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskiy. Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia, ending Washington's bid to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine with a Trump-Putin phone call and talks between senior US and Russian officials.
Trump said he may meet Putin this month. The Kremlin said such a meeting could take longer to prepare but Russia's sovereign wealth fund said it expected a number of US companies to return to Russia as early as the second quarter.
The comments from Trump and Zelenskyy were a staggering back-and-forth between leaders of two countries that have been staunch allies in recent years under Trump's predecessor. While former President Joe Biden was in the White House, the US provided crucial military equipment to Kyiv to fend off the invasion and used its political weight to defend Ukraine and isolate Russia on the world stage.
The Trump administration has started charting a new course, reaching out to Russia and pushing for a peace deal. Senior officials from both countries held talks Tuesday to discuss improving ties, negotiating an end to the war and potentially preparing a meeting between Trump and Putin after years of frosty relations.
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