Trump: Zelenskyy Not “Very Important” for Peace Negotiations

U.S. President Donald Trump believes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not need to be involved in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Trump made the statement in an interview with Fox News Radio on February 21.

“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you,” Trump said, referring to peace talks. “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 reiterated his view that both President 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 said. “But Russia could have been talked out of that so easily.”

Recently, Trump has made several sharp remarks about Zelenskyy, calling him a “dictator without elections.” On February 18, a meeting in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials took place without Ukraine’s involvement, where both sides reportedly agreed to remove tensions and continue preparing for peace talks.