Trump demands Zelenskyy hold elections as he suggests Ukraine responsible for Russian invasion
19 February 2025, 06:02 | Updated: 19 February 2025, 06:09
Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine is responsible for starting the country’s war with Russia, adding that the conflict could have been "settled very easily" as he hit out at Kyiv's negotiation skills.
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The US President also indicated that Ukrainians should elect a new leader if they want lasting peace and a seat at the table during any peace negotiations.
Trump's comments follow a long day of talks, with the first high-level, face-to-face conversations taking place between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
It's the first peace negotiations to take place since the war began, with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressing concerns about his exclusion from talks.
Trump spoke with reporters from Florida late on Tuesday, expressing that he was “disappointed” that the Ukrainian leader felt he was left out of negotiations, telling reporters
“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat [at the talks],” Trump told reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The US president suggested any “half baked” negotiator could have secured peace “without the loss of much land“ and war.
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"Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years ... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” Trump said.
It comes as President Trump has expressed hope that a peace deal can be achieved to end the war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"We want no one to decide anything behind our backs … No decision can be made without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine," Zelenskyy told reporters.
It follows Zelenskyy postponing his visit to Saudi Arabia, which was meant to take place on Wednesday, until 10 March.
It follows initial high level talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia yesterday.
Zelenskyy insisted Europe should also have a seat at the table during any peace talks to end to the war in Ukraine.
During the press conference, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey's "full support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty".
Donald Trump also suggested that European troops could be involved in Ukraine - something Moscow says IT won't allow.
Donald Trump told reporters he and Vladimir Putin spoke about Ukraine before Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
"I think everyone knew that this is something that should have never happened, would have never happened," he said.
"And I used to discuss it with Putin. President Putin and I would talk about Ukraine, and it was the apple of his eye, I will tell you that.
"But he never, there was never a chance of him going in. And I told him: 'You better not go in, don't go in, don't go in.' And he understood that and he understood it fully."