Trump says Zelenskyy is 'not a good guy for us to deal with' in Ukraine peace talks
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump, in an interview with Newsmax, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not the person to deal with when it comes to an agreement to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries. He claimed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is easier to negotiate with.
During the interview, the host noted that Ukraine had resumed strikes on Russian oil refineries starting October 15. He added that he thought Trump had asked Zelenskyy not to carry out such attacks.
In response, the US president said he had made the request but claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not the person to deal with. He also repeated his assertion that the Ukrainian president does not want to negotiate and that a final peace deal would ultimately be reached without Zelenskyy.
"Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with... if they're going to end up with a settlement of some kind, they're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't know. I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. They've destroyed that country," the US president said.
Trump then repeated his claim that the war would never have started if he had been president in 2020. He also reiterated that Zelenskyy and Putin hate each other, which he said makes negotiations difficult.
Moreover, according to Trump, Russia's war against Ukraine "was supposed to be very short." However, he claimed that a general failed to turn onto a country road in time, causing Russian tanks to become stuck in the mud and bringing the advance on Kyiv to a halt.
"So they got, I guess I don't know if you call it lucky or not lucky, frankly, because it's been five years and Ukraine has lost a tremendous, you know, Ukraine has lost so many of its men and Russia too. But Russia is a massive country," Trump claimed.
Asked whether the war would end before his presidential term expires, the US president said an end to the conflict was coming soon.
"It should end soon. I think they actually both would like to see the end, but I think I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin," he concluded.
What else is known
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump claimed that the war between Russia and Ukraine began because of "incompetence."
Trump also claimed that Zelenskyy could have ended the war with Russia several times but allegedly failed to do so. Against this backdrop, he advised Ukrainians to elect a new leader.
We also reported that, according to CNN, Trump and his administration have remained silent about Russia's attacks on American businesses in Ukraine. At the same time, Washington is demanding that Ukraine halt its strikes on Russian oil refineries because the attacks hurt US consumers.
