Trump: Ukraine should replace Zelensky as its peace negotiator

US President Donald Trump said that it is time for Ukraine to appoint a different representative for peace talks instead of Volodymyr Zelensky. In his words, Kyiv is not helping the settlement, while the United States continues talks with Putin and does not intend to break them off.

Trump also said he is open to a three-way meeting with Putin and Xi Jinping in China. On Monday the Kremlin said such a meeting is theoretically possible in November on the sidelines of the APEC summit. As Reuters quotes Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the idea of a meeting had come up, but no one has yet discussed concrete proposals on its agenda or format.

In Trump’s view, Xi Jinping has behaved “very fairly” toward Ukraine and has not interfered much in these matters. Of Russia, he said it had acted “quite normally” and “did not do much.” Zelensky, he said, is “not very helpful,” and it seems to him the Ukrainian leader does not want the war to end. “Maybe it is time for Ukraine to put forward someone else for peace talks, not Zelensky,” Trump added.

Distrust between the American and Ukrainian leaders is growing. Last week Trump called Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries a “disgrace” and said Zelensky is a harder person to deal with than Putin, CNN reports. Zelensky replied that it is better to have partners who are open and clear than those who smile but remain killers, which is seen as a hint at Trump’s attitude to Russia.

On Sunday Trump again criticised Zelensky on the social network Truth Social, saying he “does not want to end this war and probably never did.” Trump stressed that he is negotiating peace and does not want to do anything that would “stupidly scare” Russia away from the negotiating table.

Source: novinky.cz