Trump calls Zelenskyy a “dictator” after blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion

Washington — President Trump attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator with out elections,” echoing rhetoric from the Kremlin concerning the warfare in Ukraine and escalating a public feud between the 2 leaders.

In a submit on Fact Social on Wednesday, Mr. Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of duping the U.S. into offering billions in help to Ukraine and misusing it. 

“Consider it, a modestly profitable comic, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked america of America into spending $350 Billion {Dollars}, to enter a Struggle that could not be gained, that by no means needed to begin, however a Struggle that he, with out the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ won’t ever be capable of settle,” Mr. Trump wrote. 

Mr. Trump inflated the quantity of help the U.S. has despatched to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022. The U.S. has offered $66 billion in safety help. In whole, Congress has appropriated $175 billion in financial, humanitarian and army help to Ukraine.

“He refuses to have Elections, may be very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the one factor he was good at was enjoying Biden ‘like a fiddle,'” Mr. Trump wrote. “A Dictator with out Elections, Zelenskyy higher transfer quick or he’s not going to have a Nation left.”

Zelenskyy was elected president of Ukraine in 2019 with 73% of the vote. The nation has delayed elections that had been scheduled for early 2024 due to the warfare with Russia. One current public opinion ballot in Ukraine confirmed 57% of Ukrainians stated they belief Zelenskyy, in comparison with 37% who stated they do not.

A senior administration official instructed CBS Information that Mr. Trump’s assault on Zelenskyy was a direct response to the Ukrainian president saying that Mr. Trump gave the impression to be working in a Russian-created “disinformation area.” 

“We’re seeing quite a lot of disinformation and that’s coming from Russia,” Zelenskyy stated Wednesday. “Sadly, President Trump, with all due respect… resides on this disinformation area.”

Zelenskyy’s remark got here a day after Mr. Trump blamed Ukraine for beginning the warfare with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, falsely claiming Ukraine was run by “neo-Nazis” who posed a menace to Russia and its neighbors.

U.S. and Russian officers met in Saudi Arabia earlier this week about ending the warfare. Ukrainian officers weren’t included within the assembly. 

On Capitol Hill, a number of Republican senators disagreed with Mr. Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska stated she would “by no means check with President Zelenskyy as a dictator.” Sen. Susan Collins of Maine stated Zelenskyy is to not blame for Russia’s invasion “in any means.”

“To equate anyone or to recommend that anybody in Ukraine has accountability for this warfare forgets the truth that Putin lied,” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina stated. “He has lied each step of the way in which, and I imagine any decision in Ukraine that makes him really feel like he gained or simply pushed to a tie is a foul concept.”

Mike Pence, who served as Mr. Trump’s vice chairman throughout his first time period, additionally spoke out in opposition to the president’s feedback, sharing a Fox Information article from Feb. 24, 2022, with the headline “Russia Invades Ukraine in Largest European Assault Since WWII.” 

“Mr. President, Ukraine didn’t ‘begin’ this warfare,” Pence wrote. “Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming lots of of 1000’s of lives. The Street to Peace should be constructed on the Fact.” 

contributed to this report.