Trump Says Zelensky ‘not important’ for Meetings
US President Donald Trump has implied that Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky is hindering the possibility of reaching agreements. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The presence of Ukraine’s leader, Vladimir Zelensky, is actually “not very important” for meetings, according to US President Donald Trump, who suggested that Zelensky complicates negotiations.
During an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday, Trump intensified his criticism of Zelensky, indicating that the Ukrainian president hinders efforts to reach a resolution regarding the conflict with Russia. He asserted that it is “not very important” to include Zelensky in discussions.
“He’s been at meetings for three years with a very, with a president who didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” Trump stated, referring to his predecessor Joe Biden while dismissing Zelensky’s complaints about Ukraine’s lack of representation in recent talks between Moscow and Washington in Saudi Arabia.
“He’s been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done. So I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings to be honest with you… He’s - he makes it very hard to make deals. But look what’s happened to his country, it’s been demolished,” he added.
Earlier this week, Trump labeled Zelensky a “dictator” for his refusal to hold presidential elections and claimed that Zelensky has an extremely low approval rating in his home country.
When pressed by the host about whether Russia was responsible for the ongoing conflict, Trump sidestepped the question, suggesting that other parties share the blame. He also reiterated his belief that the hostilities would never have started if he had been in office at that time.
”Every time I say, oh, it’s not Russia’s fault, I always get slammed by the fake news. But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger, which is a bad thing to do, and you don’t do that. But Russia could have been talked out of that so easily,” Trump maintained.
Relations between Kiev and Washington appear to have quickly soured over the past week, with Trump and Zelensky, along with other senior officials from both nations, exchanging accusations. Zelensky has claimed that the US leader is “living in a disinformation bubble” allegedly created by Russia and has rejected a proposed deal allowing the US access to Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals in exchange for military aid. He also contested Trump’s claims regarding the amount of aid received by Kiev, insisting that it had not obtained even half of the total.
On Wednesday, Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and warned that the Ukrainian president would not “have a country left” if he continued with his current policies. Top US officials, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, expressed frustration with Kiev’s rhetoric, labeling it “unfortunate” and “unacceptable.”
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
During an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on Friday, Trump intensified his criticism of Zelensky, indicating that the Ukrainian president hinders efforts to reach a resolution regarding the conflict with Russia. He asserted that it is “not very important” to include Zelensky in discussions.
“He’s been at meetings for three years with a very, with a president who didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” Trump stated, referring to his predecessor Joe Biden while dismissing Zelensky’s complaints about Ukraine’s lack of representation in recent talks between Moscow and Washington in Saudi Arabia.
“He’s been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done. So I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings to be honest with you… He’s - he makes it very hard to make deals. But look what’s happened to his country, it’s been demolished,” he added.
Earlier this week, Trump labeled Zelensky a “dictator” for his refusal to hold presidential elections and claimed that Zelensky has an extremely low approval rating in his home country.
When pressed by the host about whether Russia was responsible for the ongoing conflict, Trump sidestepped the question, suggesting that other parties share the blame. He also reiterated his belief that the hostilities would never have started if he had been in office at that time.
”Every time I say, oh, it’s not Russia’s fault, I always get slammed by the fake news. But I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things. Zelensky said the wrong things. They got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger, which is a bad thing to do, and you don’t do that. But Russia could have been talked out of that so easily,” Trump maintained.
Relations between Kiev and Washington appear to have quickly soured over the past week, with Trump and Zelensky, along with other senior officials from both nations, exchanging accusations. Zelensky has claimed that the US leader is “living in a disinformation bubble” allegedly created by Russia and has rejected a proposed deal allowing the US access to Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals in exchange for military aid. He also contested Trump’s claims regarding the amount of aid received by Kiev, insisting that it had not obtained even half of the total.
On Wednesday, Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and warned that the Ukrainian president would not “have a country left” if he continued with his current policies. Top US officials, including National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, expressed frustration with Kiev’s rhetoric, labeling it “unfortunate” and “unacceptable.”
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
