Trump says no need for Zelensky to take part in Ukraine peace talks

As reported by Ukrinform, citing Bloomberg, Trump made these remarks in a recent U.S. interview.

“I don’t think he’s very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio.

Trump noted that inviting Zelensky to peace talks with the Russians in Saudi Arabia “was not a priority”, as he believes the Ukrainian president “did such a bad job in negotiating so far”.

According to Bloomberg, Trump’s latest comments suggest that he intends to pursue direct talks with Russia — with or without Ukraine’s participation. This stands in stark contrast to the previous U.S. administration’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine”.

At the same time, Trump repeated his long-standing claim that Biden and Zelensky could have prevented the war.

“Every time I say, ‘Oh it’s not Russia’s fault,’ I always get slammed by the fake news, but I’m telling you, Biden said the wrong things, Zelensky said the wrong things, they got attacked by somebody that’s much bigger and much stronger,” Trump said.

He further insisted that Russia could have been easily deterred from invading Ukraine.

As Ukrinform previously reported, Trump has repeatedly called Zelensky a "dictator without elections", blaming him for Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, many Republican leaders have spoken out in support of Ukraine. The conservative newspaper The New York Post, which traditionally backs the Republican platform, directly addressed Trump in an editorial, stating that Putin is the real dictator who attacked Ukraine.