Trump is living in a ‘disinformation space’, says Zelenskyy as he hits back at US for ‘helping’ Putin 'come out of isolation'
19 February 2025, 11:08 | Updated: 19 February 2025, 11:25
President Trump is 'trapped in a disinformation bubble', says Zelenskyy after Trump suggested he started the Ukraine war.
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Zelenskyy has accused President Trump of being "trapped in a disinformation bubble" after he accused the Ukrainian leader of starting the war.
Speaking in a news conference, Zelenskyy said he is "seeing a lot of disinformation" from Russia.
He's also accused Trump is 'helping' Putin 'to come out of isolation' by working with him.
He said: "With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader, he is living in this disinformation space."
The Ukrainian leader added: "Look, we all want a victory, and we want Trump to win, and we want Ukraine to win, all of us to succeed,
"But I am protecting Ukraine. I can't sell it away. I can't sell our state."
He also dismissed suggestions that he should step down as leader, or that his approval ratings are at 4%.
The Ukrainian leader said that it was Russian disinformation - his approval ratings are actually 50%.
This comes as earlier today, Trump 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.
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 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].”
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.
During peace talks between Russia and US in Saudi Arabia yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the Russian leader has “repeatedly said he is ready to speak about peace” but stressed that Moscow's “wider security issues” need to be addressed first.
“Putin himself said that he would be ready to negotiate with Zelenskyy if necessary but the legal basis of agreements needs discussion considering the reality that Zelenskyy’s legitimacy can be questioned,” he added.
Russia would not stand in the way of Kyiv joining the European Union, Peskov continued, adding that Ukraine has a 'sovereign right' to join the bloc.
Putin is also ready to meet US President Donald Trump, Peskov added. He did not give a date for a potential meeting, stressing it is impossible to give any sense of the talks as they had only just begun.
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."