President Donald Trump continues his attack on Ukrainian leader Voldimi Zelensky as White House officials said the rare earth mineral trade was close.
Trump’s statement on Friday continued his days of screeding against Zelensky involving both Ukraine and Washington’s traditional European allies. The criticism comes amid wider policy changes to the conflict from the Trump administration, including a bilateral meeting with US and Russian delegations earlier this week.
In an interview with Fox News Radio, the US president once again blamed the destruction brought about by Ukrainian invasion of Russian Ukrainian leaders.
When host Brian Kilmead called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “Putin’s fault,” Trump replied: “I’m tired of hearing it, what will I tell you. ”
Trump also retorted Kiev’s criticism that Zelensky was “negotiating without a card,” saying he was on the sidelines by the US in his recent involvement with Russia.
“He’s been at the meeting for three years and hasn’t gotten anything, so to be honest, he doesn’t think it’s very important to be present at the meeting,” Trump said. That day.
Meanwhile, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Friday that he believes Ukraine will soon sign a contract that gives access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for continued support in the war.
The Trump administration has put pressure on Kiev on the deal, along with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, who previously traveled to Kiev to seek 50% ownership of the minerals. At the time, Zelenskyy refused the offer.
“Look, here’s the bottom line, President Zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you’ll see it in a very short term,” Waltz said at a meeting near Washington, D.C. He said, “And that’s good for Ukraine.”
Escalation of attack
The relentless criticism of Zelenskyy comes in a broader pivot from US President Joe Biden, who has strengthened his transatlantic partnership and pledged lasting support for Ukraine.
The Trump administration has taken another tactic, and US defense chief Pete Hegses said last week that he must admit that Ukraine will not regain territory lost to Russia since 2014 and will not become a member of the bloc He spoke to.
Critics said the position appears to offer major concessions for Russia before peace talks begin.
After we and the Russian delegation met in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, both sides said they agreed to begin a preliminary process to begin the talk.
Just a few hours later, Trump suggested that Ukraine had “never started” the war. Zelenskyy shot back the day after the US president was active in the “disinformation field.”
It prompted social media rants that included misinformation from Trump, who called Zelenkiy a “no-election dictator” and claimed he had lost support from Ukrainians.
Ukraine has been under martial law since the Russian invasion and therefore no elections have been held. Opinion polls regularly show that the majority of Ukrainians support Zelensky.
Even Ukrainian opposition has recently come to his defense.
“We may have different opinions about Zelensky, but only Ukrainian citizens have the right to judge his support,” said Jaroslav Zelesniak, a lawmaker for opposition party Horos, in the Associated Press. He spoke to.
“And also publicly criticizing him is because, after all, he is our elected leader.”
“Fighting is courageous”
Trump’s statement meets a wave of condemnation from European leaders.
On Friday, German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz spoke at his last major campaign event ahead of Sunday’s election, pledging to unite Ukraine and Europe.
“We leave Ukraine alone and not decide things on our heads. We guarantee that Ukraine is a country where we can choose our own government,” he said.
French and British leaders were scheduled to address the US position during their visit to the White House next week.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would warn Trump that he could not “become weaker” with Putin.
Polish conservative president Andrze Duda is reportedly scheduled to meet with Trump next week, but he is taking a different approach.
In an X’s post, he said he urged Zelensky when he called on Friday to “keep up on a course of calm and constructive cooperation.”
He added, “With the exception of US support, there is no other way to stop the bloodshed and achieve lasting peace in Ukraine.”
On his side, the US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg struck a soft tone in an X post the day after meeting Zelensky in Kiev on Friday.
After that meeting, a joint press conference between the duo was cancelled with a reported US request.
In the post, Kellogg called Zelensky “a wartime national battle and brave leader.” He added that he had a “broad and positive” discussion with Zelenskyy and his “talented national security team.”
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