Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
More than one European leader will head to Washington in the coming few days to hold talks with US President Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming summit in Riyadh between the US president and his Russian counterpart, which will focus on the file of ending the war in Ukraine. On the eve of these visits, US President Donald Trump faced a wave of sharp criticism from European leaders after he described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "dictator", in statements that sparked widespread controversy over the legitimacy of the Ukrainian president in light of the war. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended Zelensky during a phone call with him, expressing his support for him as a democratically elected leader, noting that suspending elections during war is legitimate, as happened in the United Kingdom during World War II. According to the European news network website in Brussels, "Euronews", which added, "These statements come after escalating tensions between Trump and Zelensky, as the Ukrainian president accused Trump of "living in a misleading space created by Russia", after Trump pushed for US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia from which Kiev was excluded. In contrast, speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump described Zelensky as a "dictator" and claimed that he "refused to hold elections" in Ukraine.
Zelensky's five-year presidential term was due to end in May 2024, but the Ukrainian elections were postponed under martial law imposed by Ukraine in February 2022 due to the Russian invasion.
Trump's statements were criticized by several European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described them as "It's a mistake and a dangerous one," he said, stressing that suspending the elections is in line with the Ukrainian constitution.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also considered describing Zelensky as a "dictator" inaccurate, while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described Trump's comment as "ridiculous."

Baerbock told public broadcaster ZDF: "If you look at the real world instead of just tweeting, you know who in Europe lives in dictatorial conditions: people in Russia, people in Belarus."

For his part, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the German opposition and the favorite in Sunday's elections, said that Trump reflects "the role of the perpetrator and the victim," expressing his shock at his statements.

As for French President Emmanuel Macron, he stressed the need to respect Ukraine's rights and include it in any negotiations, stressing that France's peace efforts are based on three main conditions.
According to the European news network "Euronews" in Brussels, Macron and Starmer are scheduled to visit the White House next week for talks on the war in Ukraine. The controversy comes on the heels of a US-Russian meeting in Saudi Arabia that signaled a potential shift in relations between Washington and Moscow, with the two sides agreeing to reset their ties after years of diplomatic isolation imposed on Russia.

Following the meeting, Trump suggested that Kyiv bore responsibility for the continuing war, suggesting that Zelensky should have “ended it three years ago.”

“I heard him (Zelensky) say today that we weren’t invited. You were there for three years, you should have ended it three years ago, you shouldn’t have started it,” he said.

In response, Zelensky accused Russia of lying during Tuesday’s meeting. “With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader… he lives in a media disinformation space,” he said.