Trump justified Russia's actions in the war and accused Zelenskyy of being unwilling to make peace

U.S. President Donald Trump called Russia’s actions in the war against Ukraine acceptable and criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of being unwilling to end the fighting. The American leader also stated that Kyiv could have reached an agreement on more favorable terms earlier.

 

Donald Trump stated that he does not intend to halt the negotiation process with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin regarding the war against Ukraine. According to the U.S. president, he does not want to abandon attempts to reach agreements in the middle of the process.

Assessing Moscow’s actions, Trump spoke favorably of Russia’s conduct in the war. He stated that the Russian side is behaving “quite normally” and “hasn’t really done anything in particular.”

The U.S. president also mentioned China. In his view, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has also acted fairly toward Ukraine. Trump added that Russia and China have not yet demonstrated their full capabilities and know that he appreciates their restraint.

Trump once again cast doubt on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s willingness to end the hostilities. He claimed that the Ukrainian president is allegedly not making sufficient efforts to resolve the situation.

“Zelenskyy isn’t doing much to help resolve the situation. It seems to me he doesn’t want it to end. But I want people to stop dying,” Trump said.

This was his comment on the Ukrainian leader’s stance regarding Washington’s actions. Earlier, Zelenskyy had stated that the U.S. risks ending up on the wrong side of history. In response, Trump said, “Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

The U.S. president also questioned who should represent Ukraine in negotiations with Russia.

“It’s time for someone else to lead the negotiations on behalf of Ukraine,” Trump said.

He added that the United States had provided Ukraine with significant aid but, in his words, had received nothing in return.

Separately, the U.S. president claimed that Ukraine could have secured better terms in the agreements if Zelenskyy had heeded his advice earlier.

“Zelenskyy should have ended this war a long time ago. If he had listened to me, he would have struck a much more favorable deal long ago. And he would have had a million people on his side,” Trump said.

This last statement does not provide grounds for interpreting the reference to “a million people” as an accurate estimate of those killed or rescued. Without additional context, its meaning remains ambiguous.

Responding to a question about sanctions pressure on Russia, Trump emphasized that he supports ending the war. At the same time, his response did not include a specific explanation of exactly which sanctions measures he is prepared to support.

The U.S. president also stated that he does not know who made the decision to suspend Starlink operations in Ukraine, but would like to get to the bottom of the matter.

In addition, Trump said he would welcome a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in China.

Earlier, the Kremlin proposed holding a meeting between Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping in November.

As a reminder, Trump stated that Zelenskyy is not interested in ending the war.

Earlier, Zelenskyy called Russia’s support a historic mistake by Trump.