On October 19, before departing the White House for Kansas to campaign for the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and stated that the time has come for Kyiv to be represented by someone else in negotiations. According to The Guardian and the Anadolu news agency, the US leader told reporters: «Zelensky doesn't know what he's talking about. He should have settled this conflict a long time ago».
Criticism of Zelensky and call for a new negotiator
Commenting on Zelensky's recent statement that the US president is on the «wrong side of history», Trump replied: «If he had listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago. I think it's time for someone else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. What happened? Many people died. They are losing their male population». According to him, «maybe it's time for Mr. Zelensky to let someone else step into the negotiations», while the Ukrainian leader himself, in Trump's assessment, «has done little to improve the situation» and, as he put it, «doesn't want to end the conflict».
Assessment of Russia and China's actions
Answering a question about his readiness for a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss Ukraine, Trump stated that he has not yet agreed, but is ready to consider such options. At the same time, he noted that participation is not necessarily tied to Ukraine, since, according to him, «frankly, Russia has behaved quite well on the Ukrainian issue». He gave a similar assessment to China, emphasizing that both sides «have not interfered too actively» and «haven't come close to doing what they could», which he said he «appreciates».
Nuclear disarmament as a priority
The White House stated that nuclear disarmament will be a priority at any such meeting. «We are going to meet to discuss nuclear weapons and denuclearization… We have more nuclear weapons than any other country. Russia is second, China is third, but they are catching up. China used to be far behind, but now they are catching up. It will probably take about five years», Trump added.
Readiness to end the conflict
Asked whether he would meet with Putin and Xi Jinping to discuss ending the conflict without Zelensky's presence, the US president stated that he will do «everything in my power to end the conflict, regardless of who is present». Thus, the statement on October 19 became one of Trump's harshest public remarks directed at Zelensky and renewed the question of who exactly will represent Kyiv in future peace talks.
