US President Donald Trump has faced backlash from European leaders after calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator.”
As reported by BBC, Trump deepened the divide by criticizing Zelensky and claiming he only knew “how to play Joe Biden like a fiddle.” His remarks came after Zelensky accused him of living in a Russian disinformation space for excluding Kyiv from US-Russia talks.
European Leaders’ Response
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Trump’s remark, calling it “simply wrong and dangerous to deny Zelensky his democratic legitimacy.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reaffirmed his support for Zelensky in a phone call, with his spokesperson stating, “It is perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime, as the UK did during World War II.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also dismissed Trump’s remarks as “absurd.”
Trump’s Justification & Ukraine’s Political Situation
Speaking at an investment event, Trump stated, “Zelensky refuses to hold elections. He is low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be popular when every city is being demolished?”
Notably, on February 18, US and Russian senior officials held their first direct talks on Ukraine’s future, raising concerns in Kyiv that its security interests might be overlooked.
