President Donald Trump is clearly fed up with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his defiance in seeking to make a deal with Russia to end their deadly conflict. In fact, tensions between the two men are so high that Trump has suggested Ukraine hold new elections to choose someone else to leader their country.
The comments came in response to Zelensky’s childish response to the first round of U.S.-Russia peace negotiations on Tuesday. A good, noble leader seeks to end wars and not sacrifice the lives of his people in order to continue pulling in millions of dollars from other countries to line their pockets under the guise of funding a war.
The president made comments about the situation while at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday evening, saying the people of Ukraine should be given a voice in whether or not to end the war with Russia. Elections in the country have been delayed for a long time due to the conflict, extending the length of time Zelensky has been given an opportunity to call the shots.
Following the first round of peace talks, both nations came away from the table satisfied with the progress that was made. Trump also pointed out that Ukrainian leadership was upset at being excluded from talks, going on to say that if they would like to be a part of things moving forward, they need to consult the people of Ukraine.
“Well, we have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine. Where we have martial law, martial law essentially, in Ukraine, where the leader — I hate to say it — he’s down to four per cent approval rating. It’s a country that’s been blown to smithereens. Most of the cities are laying on their side,” the president said.
“…I would say that if they want a seat at the table, wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election’. That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also,” he added.
“Ukrainian state media immediately shot back at President Trump after he said Zelensky’s approval rating was very low — perhaps a tacit implication that President Trump believes an election as a price for a peace deal actually means the end of Zelensky’s leadership — insisting that actually, Zelensky is riding high in the polls,” Breitbart News reported.
“President Zelensky himself also spoke out against Trump, accusing him of repeating Russian propaganda talking points. Indeed, Moscow has repeatedly referred to Ukraine’s delayed elections as proof of their claims that Kyiv is an illegitimate fascist state,” the article stated.
Zelensky said if President Trump wants to see him replaced right away, “that won’t happen,” going on to state his opinion that the Kremlin is feeding the Trump administration false information.
“Unfortunately, President Trump, whom we have great respect for as a leader of the American people, whom we greatly respect and who constantly supports us, lives in this disinformation space,” he responded.
The raging battles taking place in the country would make holding elections difficult, however, not impossible. One suggestion is for the Ukrainians abroad to vote through a global network of embassies. However, the real obstacle is getting Zelensky to allow someone to actually run against him, especially since some of the parties banned in Ukraine are pro-Russia.
“Ukraine last held national elections in 2019, and they were due to be held again in 2024 for both the parliament and the presidency. The present position of the Zelensky administration is that there will be no new elections until after the war is over, as the conflict makes holding a fair election impossible,” Breitbart explained.
Early this morning, Trump took to Truth Social where he accused Zelensky of being a “dictator” for not holding elections. He then suggested that the Ukrainian president, who cancelled elections last year under martial law, is opposing peace because he wants to “keep the gravy train going.”
“I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died,” Trump said.