‘He's not important’: Trump dismisses Zelensky’s role in Ukraine talks, says war wasn’t ‘Russia’s fault’
World: During the interview, Trump admitted that Russia "attacked" Ukraine but insisted that the Russia-Ukraine war could have been prevented.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday (Feb 21) that he does not see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a key player in negotiations to end Russia-Ukraine war.
"I don't think he's very important to be in meetings," Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
"He's been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals," he added.
Kyiv and European leaders have voiced frustration after Trump-backed talks between US and Russian officials took place in Saudi Arabia earlier this week without Ukraine’s involvement.
"He complains that he's not in a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace. He's been in a meeting for three years and nothing got done," Trump said.
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Trump: Russia ‘attacked,’ but war could have been avoided
During the interview, Trump admitted that Russia "attacked" Ukraine but insisted that the war could have been prevented.
"Yes, Russia attacked, but there was no reason for him [Vladimir Putin] to attack," Trump said. "You could have talked him out of it. That war should have never happened," he added.
Trump also appeared to shift blame toward Biden and Zelensky. "Every time I say, 'It's not Russia's fault,' but [Joe] Biden said the wrong things, [Volodymyr] Zelensky said the wrong things, and they got attacked, which was a bad thing to do. But Russia could have been talked out of it so easily," he said.
The Fox News host pressed Trump five times on who was ultimately responsible for the war, but Trump kept deflecting.
Rare earth deal and US-Ukraine tensions
The interview also touched on Trump’s frustration with Zelensky over a failed rare earth mineral deal. "I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards, and you get sick of it," Trump said.
He claimed the US had reached a rare earth minerals agreement with Ukraine, but negotiations fell apart. "We made a deal with rare earth and [the] Secretary of Treasury — very good guy, actually went there, and they couldn't even come close to getting a deal done," Trump said.
He added that he regretted sending his official to Ukraine. "Frankly, I wish he didn't go there, waste all of his time like that. It was just a wasted trip. A dangerous trip too," Trump said.
Rising tensions between Trump and Zelensky
Ties between Washington and Kyiv have worsened following Trump’s comments earlier this week, where he called Zelensky a "dictator without elections" and warned he "better move fast" or risk losing Ukraine.
Zelensky earlier accused Trump of being trapped in a "disinformation bubble" created by Russia. The Ukrainian leader also pushed back against Trump’s claim that Ukraine relies mostly on US support. Zelensky also criticised the recent US-Russia talks, arguing that Washington was helping Putin "come out of isolation."
“This isn’t positive for Ukraine. What it does is put the focus back on Russia, and they are happy about that,” he said.
