The President of the United States, Donald Trump, believes that negotiations with Russia can proceed without the participation of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The statement from the White House chief is cited by the Bloomberg portal.
Negotiations to end the war between Russia and Ukraine: positions of the parties on key issuesThe positions of Ukraine, the USA, and Russia on key issues during the negotiations to end the war.According to him, Zelensky had three years since the invasion of Russia, yet he has not been able to bring an end to the war.
"I don't think he (Zelensky – ed.) is that important for the meetings, to be honest," said the U.S. president.
He also reiterated his belief that former White House chief Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky could have prevented the Russian invasion.
"Every time I say, 'Oh, it's not Russia's fault,' I'm always criticized for fake news, but I'm telling you, Biden said the wrong things, Zelensky said the wrong things. They were attacked by someone much bigger and much stronger. But Russia could have easily been talked out of this," Trump stated.
Let us recall that just a few days ago, the White House chief stated that Zelensky's support level in Ukraine is 4%. The following day, results from a social survey emerged, indicating that 57% of Ukrainians trust President Zelensky.
The U.S. president also labeled Zelensky as a dictator and urged him to hold elections as soon as possible. Following Trump's statement, the sociological center "Sociс" published survey results showing that a majority of Ukrainians (63%) oppose holding parliamentary and presidential elections before the war concludes.
Additionally, U.S. Special Representative Keith Kellogg today expressed a positive impression of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while on a visit to Kyiv.