Egypt Daily News – Amid an atmosphere of escalating tension between Washington and Kyiv, following recent rapprochement with Russia and the sharp criticisms directed at him by U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke out.
Zelensky, who was not pleased with Trump’s phone call last week with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, stated that the U.S. president is living in a “space of Russian media disinformation.” He also added in a conversation with journalists in Kyiv on Wednesday that he holds great respect for the American people, who have supported his country significantly, as well as for Trump himself.
However, he noted that the latter is “unfortunately living within Russian disinformation,” as he put it.
“He Helped Putin”
Furthermore, he emphasized that any country has the right to conduct bilateral talks with any party it chooses. However, he expressed the view that the direct dialogue between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia yesterday “helped Putin emerge from his long isolation” after being sidelined from the international stage over the past three years, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory.
In response to Trump’s claim that his popularity has dropped to 4%, Zelensky said he has previously heard such misleading information coming from Russia. The U.S. president reiterated during a press conference yesterday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach that the Ukrainian president’s popularity has declined.
He also pointed out the need for presidential elections in Ukraine, a demand that Moscow has repeatedly called for as well. Russia insists that Zelensky’s term ended in May, and therefore Kyiv must hold elections, noting that the last presidential elections were held in 2019.
It is worth mentioning that since Trump’s return to the White House, he has repeatedly declared his intention to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. He has also spoken favorably about Putin on multiple occasions, emphasizing that a good relationship exists between them.
However, recently, he overturned the policy of the previous administration under Joe Biden by contacting Putin and sending a high-level delegation to Riyadh yesterday to engage in dialogue with a Russian delegation regarding the normalization of relations between the two countries. This move has angered Kyiv and raised concerns within the European Union.
