Trump harshly criticize Zelensky: You don’t have the playing cards!
US President Donald Trump has accused Volodymyr Zelensky of obstructing peace negotiations with Russia, warning him that he doesn’t have the playing cards to stick to tough terms.
During an interview with Politico, Trump said, “Zelensky should move seriously and get the deal done… It’s unconscionable that he should be an obstacle to peace”.
The US president added in harsh terms: “You don’t have the playing cards, and now you have fewer cards”.
In contrast to his harsh tone with Kyiv, Trump expressed remarkable optimism about Moscow, stressing that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal, repeating previous statements aimed at pushing for an end to the war.
Trump’s comments come at a time when Washington is putting ending the Ukraine conflict at the top of its foreign policy priorities.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said: “There is enormous hatred between Putin and Zelensky… I’ve seen a lot of hate in my life, but I think it’s at the highest level”.
“Sometimes I blame one of them, sometimes I blame the other… I think it’s going to end, and that’s a priority for me,” he added.
Trump revealed shocking casualties: “Last week alone, over the past four weeks, 32,000 soldiers were killed… The average was 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers a month killed in that war, and I would like to see it end… It’s the worst since World War II”.
Trump had earlier escalated his rhetoric toward Zelensky, describing him as an incompetent president and his popularity deteriorating, at a time when the US administration is seeking to push Kyiv towards concessions to end the war that broke out in February 2022, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and widespread destruction, especially in the east and south of the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown openness to returning to the negotiating table, stressing that Moscow has never refused to negotiate, according to Trump.
Putin noted that the dialogue between Russia and the United States doesn’t need mediators, pointing out that Europe has no basis to evaluate the recent meeting between the two countries’ delegations in Saudi Arabia negatively.
Putin explained that he had been briefed that the Riyadh meeting was friendly and that the goal of the discussion was to restore trust between Moscow and Washington.
The development comes at a time when previous rounds of US-led negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Geneva and Abu Dhabi have failed to reach a solution, particularly over the key territorial contentious point.
