US President Donald Trump has blamed Ukranian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for “allowing millions to die” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over three years ago.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, the US leader claimed Zelensky shared the blame with Vladimir Putin for the deadly conflict.
He said: “You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”
Trump’s remarks come after Russia launched a major airstrike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, marking the deadliest attack on civilians this year.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, the US leader claimed Zelensky shared the blame with Vladimir Putin for the deadly conflict
REUTERS
Trump initially described the attack as “terrible”, and said he was told Russia had made a “mistake”.
The Kremlin claimed it had targeted a meeting of Ukrainian soldiers, killing 60, however did not give any evidence.
Ukrainian media, however, reported that a medal ceremony for military veterans had taken place in the city on the day of the attack.
According to local outlets, President Zelensky dismissed the regional head of Sumy on Tuesday, allegedly over organizing the event.
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On Monday, Trump also placed blame on former president Joe Biden for the war’s death toll- estimated in the hundreds of thousands, not the millions he has claimed.
Trump said: “Millions of people dead because of three people. Let’s say Putin number one, let’s say Biden who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelensky.”
He continued by questioning the competence of the Ukrainian leader, saying he was “always looking to purchase missiles”.
“When you start a war, you got to know you can win,” he said.
Trump has consistently placed blame on both Zelensky and Biden for the war, despite the fact that Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014- five years before Zelensky became president- and launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
On Monday, Trump reiterated his stance, saying: “Biden could have stopped it and Zelensky could have stopped it, and Putin should have never started it. Everybody is to blame.”
Tensions between Trump and Zelensky have remained high since a tense exchange at the White House in February, during which the US president criticized the Ukrainian leader for not initiating peace talks with Moscow sooner.
Meanwhile, Trump has attempted to improve relations with the Kremlin, with his administration seeking to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff claimed that the Russian president is interested in achieving ‘a permanent peace… beyond a ceasefire.’
REUTERS
Trump has stated that he has a “good relationship” with Putin, and according to his US envoy Steve Witkoff—who met with Trump on Friday—their discussion was “compelling.”
Witkoff claimed that the Russian president is interested in achieving “a permanent peace… beyond a ceasefire.”
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Witkoff said: “I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large.”
“There is a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region, too. Partnerships create stability,” he added.
Meanwhile, before the Sumy attack, Zelensky had urged Trump to visit Ukraine before striking a deal with the Russian leader.
In an interview for CBS’s 60 Minutes programme, Zeleneksy said: “Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”
