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A social media post by U-S President Donald Trump, accusing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of misleading the United States into funding a war that Mr Trump says couldn’t be won, has ignited a storm of controversy.
Mr Trump posted on X of which the following is an excerpt.
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 billion dollars on a war that couldn’t be won… A dictator without elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.”
In the same Tweet, President Trump also alleged that the entire Ukraine war was a massive money laundering operation claiming half the money the U-S sent has gone missing.
His comments were met with immediate backlash.
Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, called Mr Trump’s remarks both outrageous and disgraceful.
“This is outrageous. It's outrageous if not humorous that the president does these sorts of things, goes off on a wild tangents and says things that are clearly false. What is really hurtful about this the most is with the sacrifice of the Ukrainian people that we know is taking place. Thousands have died defending their country, and for the president to argue that they were somehow the aggressor in this action is disgraceful.”
Not all politicians were critical.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri defended Mr Trump, arguing that the former president was working towards a diplomatic resolution to the war.
“I think President Trump, on behalf of the American people, is trying to negotiate a peace between Russia and Ukraine. He talked about it a lot on the campaign trail. He said he wanted to bring peace. The war has gone on long enough. I think he's going to deliver on that. So how we get there, I trust President Trump. He's a master negotiator and I think he's going to get to a lasting peace.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin was also a focal point for some of the senators.
Democratic Senator for the state of Louisiana, John Kennedy had this to say.
“Here's where I disagree with the White House, to the extent that the White House said that Ukraine started the war, I disagree. I think Vladimir Putin started the war. I also believe, through bitter experience, that Vladimir Putin is a gangster. He's a gangster with a black heart. I don't, he makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Teresa. He has Stalin’s taste for blood.”
Ukrainian mayors, officials, and MPs are urging citizens to stand behind President Zelenskyy after Mr Trump’s criticism.
Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, called for unity, insisting this is no time to lose faith in their abilities, ideals, or country.
Meanwhile, US envoy Keith Kellogg has arrived in Ukraine for high-level talks with Mr Zelenskyy, as Russia launched a drone attack on Odesa, cutting power and heating for 160,000 residents.
After nearly three years of war, diplomatic efforts have done little to ease tensions, and a recent US-Russia meeting in Saudi Arabia has only deepened concerns in Kyiv.
Ukrainian leaders fear Washington is giving Moscow the upper hand, with Mr Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak criticising the talks and warning that Ukraine’s exclusion puts its security at risk.
“The thing is that, once again, the president of Ukraine emphasises the need to synchronise positions and not to give dominance in the (negotiation) processes to the Russian Federation voluntarily. It looks strange to us. Why should dominance be handed over to a country that is an aggressor, a violator of international law, and the author of aggression against Ukraine? What is the point? What do you want to get in the end? We still do not understand this strategy. They (United States) have already given (dominance) to Russia in the information space.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Riyadh talks as friendly, brushing off concerns from Kyiv and European leaders.
With Ukraine and European governments left out of the discussions, fears have grown that the US and Russia could reach a deal that disregards their security interests.
President Putin says they are overreacting.
“Well, why get hysterical here? Hysteria is inappropriate. As for the negotiation process, President Trump told me during a telephone conversation, and I can confirm that, of course, the United States assumes that the negotiation process will take place with the participation of both Russia and Ukraine. No one is excluding Ukraine from this process. Therefore, there is no reason for such a reaction to the Russia-US meeting.”
President Putin claims Mr Trump’s stance on Ukraine is evolving.
“He (US President Donald Trump) changed his position. He said yes, Ukrainian settlement will take six months. Well, we will not talk about the timing now, but this is natural, by the way, absolutely natural, there is nothing special here. He simply began to receive information, objective information, and this information has kind of changed his approach. Therefore, some time is needed. How much time will be needed, I am not ready to answer now, but we have a desire to hold such a meeting, and I would like to hold this meeting. But I repeat once again, it needs to be prepared so that it brings a result.”
European leaders have also voiced their concerns.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson rejects Mr Trump’s claims that President Zelenskyy is a dictator, stating that the Ukrainian president remains democratically elected.
“Yes, that is incorrect. That is an incorrect description. It was Russia that started the war. President Zelenskyy is democratically elected. I think no one wants elections more than Ukraine because elections would mean that there is peace in Ukraine and that they themselves can rule over their country again. So I think we should keep calm when it comes to very, very fast, dramatic social media announcements right now. We cannot pursue security policy in Europe that way.”
Mr Kristersson warns that Europe must prepare for the long term, arguing that peace must be sustainable and defined by Ukraine itself, rather than imposed by outside powers.
“Since my very first conversation with (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, Ukraine has warned against a sudden ceasefire that only gives Russia room to regroup and come back again against Ukraine or against other countries. The peace must be sustainable over time and therefore Ukraine must be involved in defining the terms of the peace. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nor anything about European responsibility at large without European participation. And the third is that more countries now at a dramatic rate, I emphasise, dramatic rate have to build up their national defences.”
Russia has seized around 20 per cent of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining more territory in the east.
Mr Zelenskyy's five-year term was supposed to end in 2024, but presidential and parliamentary elections cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022 in response to Russia's invasion.
