Donald Trump has falsely claimed that Ukraine ‘started’ the war with Russia
US President Donald Trump has said Ukraine “should’ve never started” its war with Russia, and said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “could’ve made a deal”.
Trump was speaking after peace talks between the US and Russia were held in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine were not invited to the talks.
“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going well. But today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited,’ Well you’ve been there for three years,” Trump said, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, per ITV.
“You should’ve ended it after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal.”
Trump’s false claims that Ukraine ‘started it’ echo the Kremlin’s narrative. He also suggested that he was open to Ukraine holding elections – something which Russia reportedly want to happen in order for them to agree to a peace deal.
“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine — where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4 percent approval rating,” Trump said.
“Yeah, I would say that — you know, they want a seat at the table. You could say the people have to, wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, like, it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election. That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries.”
Trump also repeated his claims that he could have prevented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that would have “given them almost all of the land… and no people would have been killed.”
“They chose not to do it that way,” he added.
“We were not invited to this Russian-American meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us. I think it was a surprise for many people,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.
“We are absolutely honest and open. I don’t want any coincidences. That’s why I’m not going to Saudi Arabia.”
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