The US President Donald Trump held a briefing after the the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia. He spoke about the results, criticized Kyiv and Brussels, and supported the holding of elections in Ukraine.
Babel retells the main points from his speech.
Donald Trump called the talks in Riyadh successful and reported a meeting with Putin in February. According to him, Russia wants to do something and stop the war, but it is also “capable of destroying Ukrainian cities very quickly, but it does not want to do that”.
"The country there is completely destroyed, cities are in ruins, houses have fallen. It looks like a huge demolition site. They didnʼt do this with Kyiv, because, apparently, they are saving missiles," the president added.
Donald Trump is “very upset” about the war in Ukraine — he says if he had been president instead of Biden, the war “wouldn’t have started”. Now he wants to “save millions of lives” and prevent World War III.
At the same time, the US president criticized the European Union and Ukraine for allegedly doing nothing to end the three-year full-scale war and conclude a peace agreement. In Trumpʼs opinion, this would have saved Ukrainian territories and the lives of thousands of people.
"Where have you been for 3 years? There was no need to start this, itʼs long past time for a deal," Trump asked, addressing those who are unhappy with the lack of an invitation to negotiations.
And he added that "If Kyiv wants a seat at the negotiating table, shouldnʼt Ukrainians say that itʼs been a long time since the last election?"
Donald Trump said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs approval rating had allegedly fallen to 4%. According to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, in December 2024, Zelenskyʼs support rating was 52%.
Trump also believes that Zelensky "does not know" where "over $350 billion" of American support went.
"Where is all this money, no one knows where it is? Ukraine will have to pay or find out where the money went," the politician said.
- On February 18, Russia and the United States held their first talks in Saudi Arabia. No specific date for the meeting between Putin and Trump has been agreed upon, and it is unlikely to take place next week. However, the parties agreed to create negotiating groups to end the war in Ukraine. Zelensky stressed that Ukraine, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Turkey should be involved in the talks to end the war and develop security guarantees.
- Kyiv will not recognize the results of the US-Russia dialogue in Saudi Arabia, as it does not accept the possibility of any negotiations without Ukraineʼs participation, the president said.
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