"If someone wants to replace me, they won't succeed" - Zelensky responds to Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held an emergency press conference after the US president said that Ukraine needed elections before signing a peace treaty and that Ukraine could have ended the war earlier.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Donald Trump's statements.
"I never comment on popularity ratings, especially not mine or those of other leaders," Zelensky said, but stressed that, according to the latest poll, 58 percent of Ukrainians trust him.
"So if someone wants to replace me now, they won't succeed," he said.
He also criticized "the large amount of disinformation coming from Russia," noting that this information is also spreading in the United States.
"Unfortunately, President Trump, with all due respect to him as the leader of a nation that we respect... is living in this bubble of disinformation," Zelensky said.
He added that he would consider collecting more data on trust in key world leaders to counter Russian disinformation.
Zelensky warned of a "circle of disinformation around President Trump," which, he said, includes officials connected to the Hungarian and Slovak governments.
"All this is worrying. Everything they are doing is aimed at weakening Ukraine," Zelensky said.
Zelensky criticized US officials in Riyadh for calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine a "conflict" instead of the war that Putin has emphasized is being waged against Ukraine.
He added that he had a similar conversation with the previous US administration, when it "fought" against an official document that described the war as a "conflict".
"There was an attempt to change the policy to soften the terms used to describe what Putin is doing against us. We are fighting for the rights of Ukraine. That is not the most important thing right now, but we must clearly acknowledge what is happening," Zelensky said.
"The US is helping Russia emerge from global isolation"
Zelensky accused the United States of "helping Putin get out of isolation," which he said was "fully justified by their full-scale invasion of Ukraine."
He also criticized Donald Trump's statement that most of the support for Ukraine comes from the United States.
"The truth is elsewhere," Zelensky said, but added that he remained "grateful for the support" and wanted "the Trump team to have the real facts."
He added that Russia is trying to "present itself as a victim, which is something new."
Zelensky said that in recent days "Ukraine has sent a strong message to Europe" during meetings with European leaders and announced new talks, including a visit to the UK "in the next few weeks."
He indicated that the main topic of the conversation was "what Europe is ready to do to help Ukraine in the event of a reduction in US aid or other changes," emphasizing that Ukraine "must count on the unique position of its allies in Europe."
He also commented on his recent talks with the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, suggesting that Ankara could potentially provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
