Donald Trump has once again peddled a Russian propaganda claim that Volodymyr Zelensky started the war in Ukraine in an unhinged press conference alongside El Salvador president Nayib Bukele. Speaking today, the US President “fully turned” on Mr Zelensky as he claimed the near-universally respected world leader was waging a war “against sombeody 20 times your size”.
Mr Trump has pushed the claim, one that has been pushed by Russian propagandists to justify its invasion of the country and killing of nearly 100,000 Ukrainians – thousands of whom are civilians – since he assumed office for his second term, and has become highly critical of his Ukrainian counterpart for calling out the spread of pro-Putin talking points in his administration.
Exacerbating the growing tension between the two leaders in his latest appearance from the Oval Office, the President claimed Mr Zelensky had started the war without knowing he could win it.
He said: “He’s always looking to purchase missiles. Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know you can win a war. You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”
Mr Trump was responding to a question from a member of the media who was asking him about Mr Zelensky’s request to buy US-made patriot missile systems for $15 billion (£11.5 billion).
Speaking with CBS’ “50 Minutes” in a wide-ranging interview on the weekend, the Ukrainian President said his administration had told Mr Trump “very clearly what we can do”.
He added that Ukraine was “ready to buy” the missiles, and would “find the money and pay for everything”. He said: “There is the Patriot system, and you have many of them. You also have production capacity.
“There are a few steps to protect Ukraine. Step number one: one system costs $1.5 billion — we are ready to buy it.”
He added: “That’s $15 billion. We are ready to pay it. We will find the money and pay for everything.” The interview, which also covered US plans to purchase and occupy Greenland, also saw Mr Zelensky level criticism at the US after claiming Russian narratives “are prevailing” there.
He said: “I believe, sadly, Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S. How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing, and to still believe that they are not the aggressors, that they did not start this war? This speaks to the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America.”
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He added that the current administration was presenting him with a “shift in reality” with which he didn’t wish to engage. Speaking about his ill-fated February 28 visit to the White House, he said: “It’s a shift in tone, a shift in reality, really yes, a shift in reality, and I don’t want to engage in the altered reality that is being presented to me.”
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