Trump responds to Zelenskyy's remarks on Russian influence in White House Team
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump (president.gov.ua)
US President Donald Trump acknowledges the possibility of Kremlin influence on certain members of his administration and team. This could be attributed to the intentions of American officials to achieve an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the US president's statement following a meeting with his Cabinet.
Trump responded to journalists’ requests for comment on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks in an interview with Time magazine, in which Zelensky suggested that Russia had managed to exert informational influence over certain individuals within the White House team.
The U.S. president did not deny the possibility but noted that such influence might have occurred and could be linked to efforts aimed at achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine.
He suggested that those affected were likely influenced with the goal of resolving the issue, emphasizing that Ukraine wanted a resolution, as did Russia.
Trump reiterated his belief that if he were in the Oval Office, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine "would never have happened."
Additionally, he expressed his approval of the work being done by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his special envoy for Middle East affairs Steve Witkoff—who is involved in negotiations with Russian authorities—and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
He praised their efforts, stating that they were dedicating a significant portion of their time to resolving the issue, which, according to him, had financial implications for the U.S., given the substantial funds already provided.
Background
As previously reported, in a recent interview with Time magazine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia had managed to influence certain individuals within the team of his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
According to Zelenskyy, after the suspension of intelligence sharing, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Trump that Ukrainian military forces had supposedly been encircled in the Kursk region. Despite the falsehood of these claims, the White House leader allegedly repeated them and continued to amplify such disinformation.
Zelensky also noted that US officials had begun taking Putin’s statements at face value, even when their intelligence contradicted him. In his view, Moscow’s message to the Americans was that "the Ukrainians do not want to end the war, and something must be done to force them."
In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff claimed that the "biggest issue" in Russia’s war against Ukraine was "Donbas, Crimea, Luhansk, and two other regions." He asserted that these areas were Russian-speaking and had held referendums in which "the majority of people expressed a desire to be under Russian control."
Additionally, the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on foreign policy and interparliamentary cooperation, Oleksandr Merezhko, criticized Witkoff’s statements and asserted that Trump should remove him from his position.
