Trump Blames Zelenskyy for Ukraine War

FLORIDA, WEDNESDAY – US President Donald Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the Kremlin said that a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could take place before the end of February.

Trump was disappointed by Zelenskyy's statement that Ukraine was not included in the US-Russia meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Even though the meeting was to discuss the Ukraine war, among other things.

"I'm very disappointed, I heard they're upset because they didn't get a seat," Trump told reporters at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Tuesday (2/18/2025) local time or Wednesday Indonesian time.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you guys have been there for three years. You shouldn’t have started it. You should have made a deal,” Trump said.

Trump's statement came after a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a Russian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concluded a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They agreed to pave the way for negotiations to end the three-year-long war in Ukraine. In addition, they agreed to hold a bilateral Trump-Putin meeting.

Zelenskyy criticized the meeting for ignoring Kyiv. He said any efforts to end the war must be fair and involve European countries. Because the war is raging in Europe.

Zelenskyy’s criticism angered Trump, who said he felt more confident after the U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh. “I think I have the power to end the war,” Trump said.

In addition to blaming Ukraine, Trump also urged Zelenskyy to hold elections immediately, echoing a key desire of Moscow.

Asked by reporters whether the US would support Russia's demands as part of the deal, Trump instead began criticizing what he called Ukraine's "approval numbers."

"They want a seat at the table, but you could say... don't want the Ukrainian people to have their say? It's been a long time since the election. This is not about Russia, this is coming from me, from other countries," Trump said.

Zelenskky was elected in 2019 to a five-year term. However, he remains in office because the war has put Ukraine under a state of emergency. Elections cannot be held under a state of emergency.

Trump’s latest remarks have fueled concerns among European leaders. They were already worried that Washington would make concessions to Moscow and rewrite the European security order. The US has simply told European countries that they will have a seat at the negotiating table “at some point.”

The US-Russia meeting, the first since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, drew sharp criticism from Ukraine. “This will only feed Putin’s appetite,” said a senior Ukrainian official who asked not to be identified.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Trump could meet as early as this month, although a face-to-face meeting would take time to prepare. He said the U.S.-Russian talks in Riyadh were an “important step” toward a deal on the Ukraine war.

However, Peskov stressed that relations between the two superpowers must first be revived before being repaired.

Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with Zelenskyy. Kellogg said he was in Kyiv to “sit down and listen.”

"This will give us an opportunity for substantial talks. We understand the need for security assurances. We are very clear that (the assurances) are essential to the sovereignty of this country," Kellogg said.

Ukraine has repeatedly stressed the need for security guarantees from the US that would deter Russia from launching a new invasion once a peace deal is reached.

Meanwhile, European countries on Wednesday agreed on a new set of sanctions against Russia to increase pressure after U.S.-Russian talks. The package includes a ban on Russian aluminum imports. The measures will be formally adopted by EU ministers on Monday, the third anniversary of the Ukrainian war.

This is the 16th round of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia. In addition to the aluminum import ban, the EU has cut off 13 Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system and banned eight Russian media outlets from operating in Europe.

“The EU is ramping up pressure by targeting more ships and Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans. We are committed to increasing the pressure on the Kremlin,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ahead of the Riyadh meeting, some European politicians accused the Trump administration of giving Moscow free concessions by rejecting Ukraine's NATO membership and on territorial control issues. According to Washington, Ukraine's desire to regain the 20 percent of its territory currently under Russian control is an illusion.

Russian officials did not mention what concessions they offered at the Riyadh meeting. Nor did U.S. officials claim they got anything out of the meeting, raising doubts about whether further meetings will lead to serious peace talks. (AP/AFP/Reuters)