Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war with Russia – a day after a massive Russian attack killed 35 people and injured 117 others in Ukraine.
The US president said the Ukrainian leader shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for “millions of people dead” in the Ukraine war.
Trump’s comments come after widespread outrage over Russia’s attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, which was the deadliest Russian attack on civilians this year.
Asked about the attack earlier, Trump said it was “terrible” and that he had been told Russia had “made a mistake”, but did not elaborate.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, but not millions, of people have been killed or injured on all sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Questioning Zelensky’s competence, Trump remarked that the Ukrainian leader was “always looking to purchase missiles”.
Trump has repeatedly clashed with Zelensky since he returned to office this year, and has previously appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war.
Tensions between the pair have been high ever since their heated confrontation at the White House in February.
During that meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” and chided him for not starting peace talks with Russia earlier.
Trump said he had a “great” phone call with Putin last month, and the Russian president sent him a portrait as a gift a week later.
In February, Washington voted with Moscow against a UN resolution that identified Russia as the “aggressor” in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
After talks between US and Russian officials failed to produce a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump said he was “very angry” with Putin, though he added he had a “good relationship” with the Russian leader.
Witkoff said the meeting – which had included two of Putin’s advisers – had lasted close to five hours and had been “compelling”.
He said the Russian leader’s request had been to get “a permanent peace… beyond a ceasefire”. The detailed discussions had included the future of five Ukrainian territories Russia is claiming to have annexed since it launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbour and “no Nato, Article 5” – referring to the Nato rule that says members will come to the defence of an ally that is under attack.
In an interview before Russia’s latest attack, Zelensky had urged Trump to visit Ukraine before striking a deal with Putin to end the war.
Russia’s attack on Sumy that killed at least 35 people struck “right in the heart of the city on Palm Sunday”, Zelensky said at the time.
Moscow said it had fired two Iskander missiles at a meeting of Ukrainian soldiers, killing 60 of them, but did not provide any evidence.
Trump insisted he wanted to “stop the killing” and signalled there would be proposals soon, but did not elaborate.
The conflict in Ukraine goes back more than a decade, to 2014, when Kyiv’s pro-Russian president was overthrown. Russia then annexed Crimea and backed insurgents in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.
