Trump calls Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ – DW – 02/19/2025

US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “better move fast” and called him a “dictator without elections” after the Ukrainian leader accused Trump of being stuck in a Russian “disinformation bubble.”

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

The post’s wording was similar to past statements made by the Kremlin about Ukraine and Zelenskyy.

Trump also claimed the US was “successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia.”

Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term but has stayed in power under martial law imposed following the Russian invasion. Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should not be excluded from any discussions about its future.

“It’s a fundamental principle for Canada and for the vast majority of our allies … Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Trudeau said ahead of a meeting on the conflict to be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.

The Canadian leader’s comments came a day after US and Russian officials held high-level talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war. Ukrainian representatives were not invited to the meeting.

Trudeau also challenged Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine was to blame for the war.

“We had rules around borders, around not invading your neighbors that Russia chose deliberately to violate a number of years ago,” he said. “And that puts at risk, not just Ukrainians’ ability to determine their own future, it puts at risk all of our democracies, all of the rules that keep us safe and prosperous.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that her country will spend an extra 50 billion kroner ($7 billion, or around €6.7 billion) on defense over the next two years.

She told a press conference the boost was part of a response to the increasing threat from Russia.

“Does the world look uneasy? Yes. Is there reason to believe it will be over soon? No,” she said.

The Nordic country has been one of the biggest contributors of military aid and equipment to Kyiv — relative to the size of its economy — since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. But this support means its own stocks of military hardware and ammunition are dwindling.

Frederiksen said the new funding was being sent to the military with the message: “Buy, buy, buy. Buy what can contribute to a stronger defense and thus to a stronger deterrence here and now. If we can’t get the best equipment, buy the next best thing.”

Her announcement also comes as NATO members come under pressure from US President Donald Trump to dramatically ramp up their military spending.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock replied on Wednesday to the sidelining of Europe and Ukraine in the peace process as US President Donald Trump takes an increasingly conciliatory approach to Russia.

“Long-term peace can only be achieved in Europe” if Europe participates in the process, she said.

However, she conceded that some proposals sought by Trump would be beneficial.

“The fact that the Americans are meeting with Russia, also in order to make their Moscow embassy fully functional again, could become useful for future talks,” she said.

Regarding Trump’s suggestion Kyiv was responsible for starting the war that kicked off with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Baerbock said: ‘No one but Putin’ wanted a war in Ukraine.

Russian state news agencies reported that President Vladimir Putin was pleased following high-level talks between Kremlin officials and representatives of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying of the talks held in Saudi Arabia. 

Putin later said he did not know when he would personally meet with Trump, despite the latter implying that a date was set for the end of February. Putin said that the two parties first had to build “trust.”

“It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States,” he told a televised press briefing.

Responding to inaccurate comments from the US president that his approval rating was only 4%, President Zelenskyy said that “unfortunately, President Trump, who we have great respect for as leader of the American people … lives in this disinformation space.”

His claim comes directly from Russian propaganda, Zelenskyy added. The Ukrainian leader’s approval rating has never dipped below 50% and has at times been as high as 70%. 

A phone poll of 1,000 Ukrainians carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published on Wednesday, found that 57% of people approved of how Zelenskyy was executing his position.

The Ukrainian president added that he wouldn’t “sell” Ukraine to the US, referring to a proposed deal from Trump that would see Kyiv paid back aid from Washington with rare earth minerals

“I am defending Ukraine, I cannot sell our country. That’s all,” he said, adding that the Trump administration was not being “serious” about the deal.

DW spoke with Peter Trubowitz, professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, about Donald Trump’s attitude towards Russia and Ukraine.

“This is nothing short of strategic gaslighting,” Trubowitz said of Trump’s assertion that Ukraine is to blame for the war. It “should be seen for what it is, an effort to structure the negotiations over the war in a way that is less about guaranteeing Ukrainian security than, I think, realigning US-Russian relations.”

He described Trump’s concessions to Russia thus: “It’s bold, it’s dramatic. It’s a surprise.”

Trubowitz said it was all a piece of political theater in order to pressure Europe and “take advantage of Europe’s dependence on the United States.”

“The US has effectively sidelined Europe,” by appealing directly to Russia, knowing that Europe has never been unanimous in its approach to the invasion and using that to his advantage.

“If I were [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, I would not feel confident in Europe’s ability to lead right now.”

The European Union has agreed to a 16th raft of sanctions against Moscow in Brussels.

As the third anniversary of the invasion approaches on February 24, the EU sought to combat Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers being used to evade sanctions against the country’s energy sector.

The sanctions also targeted Russian aluminium production.

Andrzej Domanski, finance minister of Poland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said that it was “imperative” the measures be approved to mark “the third anniversary of this brutal aggression against Ukraine.”

The package must be formally accepted by the bloc’s foreign ministers, but that is considered a foregone conclusion.

“We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday that the government in Seoul was open to taking in North Korean prisoners of war captured by Ukraine.

Russia has been utilizing troops from North Korea in Ukraine since at least last summer.

“North Korean soldiers are constitutionally our citizens,” Yonhap quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying, adding that they may “face persecution” if they return to the North.

Yonhap also quoted a North Korean prisoner as saying he would prefer to return to South Korea.

US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg is expected to arrive in Ukraine by train from Poland on Wednesday morning.

The visit will last three days, according to the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

“As to the trip into Ukraine, the trip is still being finalized, meaning if I’m going there, the answer is yes. Am I going to have an opportunity to meet with the President Zelenskyy? The answer is yes,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted Kellogg as saying on Monday.

US President Donald Trump confirmed last week that he would send Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the nearly three-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine, to Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron is holding another meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday that will include several European and non-European countries.

Countries including Norway, Canada, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Belgium have been invited, the Reuters news agency quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The format of the meeting would be hybrid, including video participation, Reuters added.

On Monday, Macron hosted an emergency meeting on the situation in Ukraine at the Elysee Palace with several countries, including Britain, Germany and Italy. Representatives of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union were also present.

Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, leaving most residents without power, water or heat, Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov said.

“Hospitals, clinics and social infrastructure sites were left without heating,” Trukhanov wrote on the Telegram messaging app, describing the strike on Odesa as “massive.”

Trukhanov posted pictures of buildings with windows blown out and facades damaged. He made no mention of casualties, saying experts were assessing the damage.

Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian strikes in the nearly three-year war, particularly facilities at the three ports in and around the city.

This blog will bring you the latest coverage, analysis and multimedia content related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold another meeting on Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday, while US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg is expected to arrive in Kyiv for talks.