US President Donald Trump yesterday denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "a dictator without elections" and said he had better move fast to secure a peace or he would have no country left.
Trump spoke hours after Zelensky hit back at his suggestion that Ukraine was responsible for Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, saying the US president was trapped in a Russian disinformation bubble.
"A Dictator without Elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform.
In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said no one could force his country to give in. "We will defend our right to exist," Sybiha said on X.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Trump calling Zelensky a "dictator" is "false and dangerous", German newspaper Spiegel reported.
"It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy," Scholz said.
Zelensky, who met Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv yesterday, said he would like Trump's team to have "more truth" about Ukraine, a day after Trump said Ukraine "should never have started" the conflict with Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said Trump's assertion that his approval rating was just 4% was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail.
"We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space," Zelensky told Ukrainian TV.
In Moscow, Putin said yesterday that Ukraine would not be barred from peace negotiations but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.
Putin, speaking a day after Russia and the US held their first talks on how to end the three-year-old conflict, also said it would take time to set up a summit with Trump, which both men have said they want.
Trump's US policy reversal clashed with allies in the 27-member European Union, whose envoys yesterday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.
The EU's diplomatic service has proposed boosting the bloc's military aid for Ukraine, aiming to show continued support for Kyiv, though no quick decision is expected.
The proposal says the main goals would be to supply at least 1.5 million rounds of large-calibre artillery ammunition, as well as air defence systems, missiles for deep precision strikes, and drones.
