Washington: Europe and the Arabs - Agencies
In controversial statements, US President Donald Trump held Ukraine responsible for starting a conflict that destroyed its lands and killed thousands of its people about three years ago, after excluding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the first US talks with Russia to end the conflict. According to what was published by the European News Network in Brussels, "Euronews on Wednesday", it added that during a press conference in Florida on Tuesday, Trump launched his most violent attack yet on Zelensky, repeating one of the talking points promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he called for the necessity of holding elections in Ukraine, in a move seen as an attempt to weaken Zelensky's position.

The Ukrainian elections were scheduled to be held last April, but Zelensky indicated that the current circumstances make it impossible to organize them, a position supported by Ukrainian laws in times of war.

However, Trump described the absence of elections as an "unacceptable situation", ignoring the fact that he himself refused to recognize the results of the 2020 US elections, which he lost.

Trump also rejected Zelensky's criticism of excluding Kiev from the US-Russian talks that began in Riyadh, saying: "They did not have a seat at the table for three years. Any simple negotiator could have ended this war without losing lands, lives and cities." He added: "I want to achieve peace. "I don't want any more deaths."
These statements are expected to raise growing concerns in Europe, which has also been excluded from the talks, about the possibility that Trump will seek to impose a peace settlement that serves Moscow's interests if he wins the presidency.
His positions also contradict statements by his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stressed that any peace agreement would be "fair for all parties."
In his criticism of Zelensky, Trump claimed that the Ukrainian president's approval rating does not exceed "4%," although independent polls indicate that his popularity has declined compared to the beginning of the war, but it does not reach this low level. Trump also considered the elections necessary to give Ukrainians a voice in the future of their country, adding: "They want a seat at the table, shouldn't the people of Ukraine have a say in that?"
Faced with accusations of repeating Russian propaganda, Trump defended his statements by saying: "This is not a Russian position, this is my personal opinion."