Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the messages being signaled by U.S. Special Envoy to the Ukraine war, retired General Keith Kellogg, were in line with what Ukraine was seeking.
The remarks from Zelensky come after President Donald Trump criticized both Ukraine and Zelensky this week, blaming the country for the war and calling its leader a “dictator.”
Zelensky said that he had a “good and substantive conversation” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, where the two talked about a variety of issues related to Ukraine’s security situation.
“I shared details of my meeting with President Erdoğan, where we discussed Türkiye’s role in providing security guarantees,” Zelensky posted on X. “Ukraine needs broad representation from countries: Europe, including the UK and Türkiye, and the U.S., in this process.”
Zelensky said that Rutte told him the details of the meeting he had with Kellogg this week in Europe.
“The key messages align with our goal of achieving guaranteed peace, not just a temporary ceasefire,” Zelensky said. “There must be confidence that in a few months or years, Putin won’t return with his war.”
“We also discussed our future contacts with partners and coordinated our next steps,” he added. “We cannot allow Putin to deceive everyone again. Before any potential negotiations, all partners must clearly understand that strong security guarantees are the priority for lasting peace.”
I had a good and substantive conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte @SecGenNATO.
I shared details of my meeting with President Erdoğan, where we discussed Türkiye’s role in providing security guarantees. Ukraine needs broad representation from countries: Europe,…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 19, 2025
The remarks come after Trump claimed on Wednesday that Zelensky was a “dictator” who did not want to end the war against Russia because he “wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going.”
“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump posted on social media.
“The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back,” he continued. “Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation.”
Trump also claimed that Zelensky has a low approval rating.
“He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle,’” Trump said. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
Zelensky won 73% of the vote in Ukraine’s 2019 election against incumbent Petro Poroshenko. The next election was set to take place in 2024 but has been delayed indefinitely since the country is in a state of martial law — in which some democratic processes, including elections, are temporarily suspended — due to Russia’s invasion in 2022.
The New York Post noted this week that Zelensky’s approval rating currently sits just a little over 50%.
“In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” he added. “Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…”
The remarks from Trump on social media come after he criticized Ukraine on Tuesday at a press conference in Florida for complaining about not being given a seat at the table during talks this week between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia.
“I hear they’re upset about not having a seat. Well, they’ve had a seat for three years,” Trump said. “And a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily. A half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago.”
Trump said that Ukraine “should’ve never started” the war, adding that they “could’ve made a deal.”
“I could’ve made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down,” he said. “But they chose not to do it that way.”
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