Trump says Zelenskyy "not very important" in peace talks

Trump made these remarks in an interview with Fox News Radio, with Bloomberg quoting his statements.

In the interview, Trump criticized Zelenskyy’s handling of the war, stating that after three years of full-scale conflict, the Ukrainian leader had failed to bring it to an end.

“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you,” Trump said, referring to peace talks with Russia.

He also dismissed Zelenskyy’s concerns about not being invited to negotiations, suggesting his involvement was unnecessary. “When Zelenskyy said, oh, he wasn’t invited to a meeting, I mean, it wasn’t a priority because he did such a bad job in negotiating so far,” Trump added.

Reiterating his stance, Trump argued that both Joe Biden and Zelenskyy could have prevented the war. “Every time I say, ‘Oh it’s not Russia’s fault,’ I always get slammed by the fake news, but I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things, Zelenskyy said the wrong things, they got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” he stated.

Despite acknowledging that Russia had no justification for its invasion, Trump maintained that the conflict could have been avoided. “But Russia could have been talked out of that so easily,” he insisted.

Trump’s latest remarks follow a series of sharp comments about Zelenskyy. Recently, he referred to the Ukrainian leader as a “dictator without elections.” Meanwhile, on February 18, senior officials from the U.S. and Russia met in Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian representation to discuss bilateral relations and potential steps toward peace talks.