Trump claims Zelensky ‘doesn’t want peace’ after Ukrainian leader says end of war ‘far away’
The American president has moved to align his Ukraine policy more with Russia than with the rest of the democratic world
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President Donald Trump on Monday has hit out again at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy by accusing the wartime leader of having no interest in a settlement to his country’s years-long fight against Russian invading forces after the Ukrainian president said he does not see the war ending for a long time.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to attack Zelensky in a post claiming that the United States “will not put up with” his sentiments “for much longer” after Zelensky said he expects to maintain a relationship with the U.S. despite the his fraught relationship with Trump, which exploded in a meeting at the White House on Friday.
He told reporters in London that a deal to end the war “is still very, very far away” but said Kyiv’s relations with Washington “will continue, because it’s more than an occasional relationship.”
“I believe that Ukraine has a strong enough partnership with the United States of America to keep defense assistance flowing,” he said.
But Trump did not appear to agree, writing on his social media site that Zelensky’s words represent “the worst statement that could have been made” by the Ukrainian leader.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing,” said Trump, who referenced Zelensky’s statement to world leaders in London that aid from America was necessary to continue his country’s fight against invading forces from Russia.
The American president’s latest broadside against his country’s putative ally comes just days after he and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky over his supposed lack of gratitude for the more than $100 billion in U.S. defense aid his nation has received since Russia began the latest phase of the war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Zelensky, who had come to Washington on Friday to sign a mineral rights deal touted by the Trump administration, was asked to leave the White House after a media availability with Trump and his senior staff devolved into an Oval Office shouting match that ended with a vulgar, grievance-filled rant from President Donald Trump and taunts about Zelensky’s supposed ingratitude from Vance.
Zelensky left the White House roughly an hour after the emotional eruption, cutting short talks that were supposed to cement an economic relationship between Washington and Kyiv and create a mechanism to repay the billions in American military aid that has been sent to Ukraine since 2022.
From there, Zelensky then jetted to London, where he received a warm reception from U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and was granted a coveted audience with King Charles III at Sandringham House, the monarch’s private country estate in Norfolk.
Starmer pledged to “develop a coalition of the willing” to defend a deal in Ukraine and guarantee a peace settlement as part of a plan discussed by leaders at Lancaster House on Sunday, with outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in attendance.
The prime minister also announced a £1.6 billion ($2.03bn) finance deal which will allow Ukraine to buy more than 5,000 missiles which will be made by French defense and aerospace giant Thales Group in Belfast.
The increased commitment to Ukraine’s defense from the U.K. and other western allies comes as Trump has moved to pivot the United States to a position in foreign policy spheres that appears to be aligned with Russia against the democracies of the west.
In a separate Truth Social post over the weekend, Trump wrote that Americans “should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country.”
But Trump declined to explicitly say whether he supports pausing American defense aid to Kyiv when addressing reporters at an event to mark new investment in American semiconductor manufacturing. He also declined to respond directly to a related query on his reaction to statements from the Kremlin alleging that America’s foreign policy is now aligned with Russia’s, though he mused aloud that “it takes two to tango” with respect to any agreement to end the war.
“You're going to have to make a deal with Russia, and you're going to have to make a deal with Ukraine. You're going to have to have the assent, and you're going to have to have the consent from the European nations, because I think that's important, and from us, I think everybody has to get into a room, so to speak, and we have to make a deal, and the deal can be made very fast. It should not be that hard a deal to make. It could be made very fast,” he said.
He also told reporters that in his view, Zelensky “should be more appreciative” because America has “stuck with them through thick and thin.”
“We have to make a deal because there are a lot of people being killed that shouldn't be killed,” he added.
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