Trump claims Russia dominates Ukraine peace talks
Donald Trump, in an interview with the BBC, stated that Russia is "having the cards" in talks to end the war in Ukraine because it has "taken a lot of territory" of the country.
In a conversation with the BBC during a flight from Florida to Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Russia holds a significant advantage in the negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Trump: Russia wants to end the war
Trump expressed his belief that Russia seeks to end the war. "I think the Russians want to see the war end. But I think they have the cards a little bit, because, you know, they've taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards," said the U.S. president.
During the interview, Trump twice attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a "dictator." This public attack on Zelensky by Trump intensified after the Ukrainian president accused him of living in a "disinformation space." Zelensky was referring to Trump's claims that the Ukrainian president had only four percent support.
"He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle,'" Trump echoed Kremlin propaganda.
Martial law and elections
Zelensky's term was set to end in May 2024, but elections were not scheduled because of the martial law that has been in place since February 2022. The BBC reminds that, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 57 percent of Ukrainians trust Zelensky.
Trump's increasingly harsh statements are met with criticism from European leaders. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented: "It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy."
