President Donald J. Trump has intervened strongly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested an end to the war with Russia is still “very, very far away.”
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump warned in a post shared to his Truth Social platform. “It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.,” he added.
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
Zelensky made his statement—in which he also discussed U.S. backing for a European “contingent” in Ukraine, possibly including U.S. “air defense,” “intelligence,” and “security in the sky”—while meeting with European leaders, who are offering him diplomatic and emotional support following a fractious meeting with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House last week.
Following the row, President Trump suggested Zelensky was declining to make serious steps towards making peace because he feels empowered by his U.S. backing—and that, consequently, this backing may be withdrawn.
Among the European leaders backing Zelensky, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already committed to British “boots on the ground and planes in the air”—although he is also counting on U.S. backing to make this possible, with decades of neglect leaving the British armed forces small and short of supplies.
