President Trump escalated his attacks against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday by calling him “a dictator without elections.”
The smear marks a new low in the deteriorating U.S.-Ukraine relationship. It comes as the Trump administration is negotiating a deal with the Kremlin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine without Kyiv’s participation in the talks.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered.”
Trump referred to Zelensky as a “modestly successful comedian” and claimed he “talked the United States of America” into spending billions of dollars to “go into a War that couldn’t be won.”
The American President also said that the U.S. is “successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia,” reiterating his claim that Zelensky refuses to hold elections.
Meanwhile, Zelensky was democratically elected in a fair and free election. Under its constitution, Ukraine can postpone a scheduled election in wartime, and it did so last year because of the Russian invasion.
Trump has never called Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator.
Earlier this week, U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the war without inviting Ukraine to participate.
After Zelensky complained that the U.S. has been working with Russia behind its back, Trump replied with public accusations against the Ukrainian president, falsely suggesting Ukraine started the war and that Zelensky is deeply unpopular with his own people.
Zelensky responded by accusing Trump of living in a “disinformation space” created by the Kremlin.
Putin expressed satisfaction on Wednesday about the negotiations with the U.S. and claimed that Ukraine would not be excluded from the process, Reuters reported.
He added that he would be happy to meet Trump but clarified that such a meeting needs to be well-prepared.
Written with reports from Axios