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Putin Must Be Salivating Over This Trump Attack on Ukraine’s Zelenskiy

Donald Trump unloaded on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, accusing Zelenskiy of enjoying a “gravy train” from the United States and calling him a “Dictator without Elections.”

The post rambles, accusing the Ukrainian leader of being responsible for Russia’s invasion, claiming that the U.S. spent $200 billion more than Europe on Ukraine, and threatening Zelenskiy to “move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

Truth Social Screenshot Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation. On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the “gravy train” going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues….. Feb 19, 2025, 10:47 AM

Unsurprisingly, several of Trump’s claims aren’t true. The U.S. has actually allocated a total of $183 billion to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with about $86.7 billion of it spent already. European commitments amount to $174 billion in addition to $50 billion in loans backed by revenue from frozen Russian assets. Hours before Trump’s post Wednesday, Zelenskiy warned that Trump needed to “be more truthful” and said that the president “lives in a disinformation space” fed by Russia.

Trump’s language and attitude towards Ukraine and Zelenskiy plays right into the hands of Russia and its autocratic leader Vladimir Putin. Putin has long been criticized for his anti-democratic path holding sham elections, so to pin the dictator label on Zelenskiy surely has him rejoicing. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already praised Trump for putting the onus of the war on the U.S., NATO, and Ukraine.

“He is the first, and so far, in my opinion, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the impudent line of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov said Wednesday. “No Western leaders had ever said that, but he had said it several times. This is already a signal that he understands our position.”

As Russian and U.S. representatives negotiated about the war in Saudi Arabia without their European or Ukrainian counterparts this week, these comments from Trump and Russian leaders suggest that any proposed deal from their talks will almost certainly be bad for Ukraine and leave Russia in a position of strength, with Trump claiming victory regardless.