The tenant of the White House described the Ukrainian president as “dictator”, which aroused criticism of European leaders, including the British Keir Starmer and Olaf Scholz (Germany), who defended the democratic legitimacy of Zelensky.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump called the Ukrainian leader as “dictator”.
Zelensky was a “democratically elected leader” and it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend the elections in wartime as the United Kingdom did during the Second World War,” said a spokesperson for Downing Street.
These comments come after the tense exchanges between Trump and Zelensky, the Ukrainian President declaring that Trump “lives in a disinformation bubble” governed by Moscow after the American president pressed with talks between the United States and Russia in Saudi Saudi Arabia , from which Kyiv was excluded.
Addressing journalists in Florida, Trump previously called Zelensky as “dictator” and said he “refused to organize elections” in Ukraine.
The five -year term of Volodymyr Zelensky was to be completed in May 2024, but the elections in Ukraine were suspended after the country declared martial law in response to the total invasion of Russia in February 2022.
Trump’s comments aroused criticism from several European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said on X that “it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny the democratic legitimacy of President Zelensky”.
“The fact that regular elections cannot be organized in the midst of war is in accordance with the requirements of the Ukrainian Constitution and electoral laws. No one should claim the opposite,” said Scholz.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf KrisSson also said that Trump’s use by the word “dictator” was “incorrect”, while German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock called these comments as “absurd”.
“If you look at the real world instead of launching a tweet, you know who in Europe must live in the conditions of a dictatorship: they are people in Russia, people in Bélarus,” Baerbock told the chain of ZDF public television.
Friedrich Merz, chief of the largest German opposition party and favorite on Sunday elections, said that Trump’s comments constituted “a classic inversion of the role of the author and the victim”.
“To be honest, I am somewhat shocked that Donald Trump obviously made this subject his,” Merz told the Ard.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that “Ukraine must always be included and his rights respected”, while highlighting three conditions which he described as “the efforts of France for peace”.
Macron and Starmer will both go to the White House early next week to discuss the war in Ukraine.
European leaders reaffirmed that Ukraine and themselves should have a siege at the negotiating table after the United States organized discussions with Russia in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Riyadh’s meeting has marked a tectonic turning point in relations between the United States and Russia, the two parties that agreed to restore their relations after three years of efforts by the United States to isolate Russia.
Following the meeting, Donald Trump made a series of comments in which he seemed to blame Ukraine for the large -scale invasion of Moscow.
“Today, I () heard them say:” Oh, well, we have not been invited “. Well, you have been there for three years (…). You should never have started. You could have concluded an agreement, “said Trump.
In response, Zelensky accused Russia of having lied at Tuesday’s meeting.
“With all the respect I owe to President Donald Trump as a manager, he lives in a Russian disinformation space,” he said.
Additional sources • Adaptation: Serge Duchêne