Feb. 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled support for Russia’s call for elections to be held in Ukraine, as negotiations to end the three-year-old war kicked off in Saudi Arabia between Washington and the Kremlin with Kyiv noticeably absent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would not negotiate an end to the war with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, whom he described as “illegitimate” as his five-year term was supposed to have ended in May. Elections were postponed due to the war.
Trump told reporters during a press conference at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort that the call for elections in Ukraine was not only coming from Russia but from himself and other countries, which he did not name.
Trump signaled support for the idea by stating an unidentified poll had public support for Zelensky at 4%. Trump’s claim differs vastly from the most recent Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll that shows public support for Zelensky was at 52%.
“I would say that, you know, when they want a seat at the table you could say wouldn’t the people of Ukraine to say, like, ‘it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,'” he said.
The seat and table in question is at negotiations in Saudi Arabia between the United States and Russia on ending the war. The two sides agreed to four broad principles to aid with the peace talks.
Zelensky on Tuesday criticized the Trump administration for Ukraine’s exclusion and said they must be involved in decisions to end the war or no conditions agreed to will be implemented.
“For Ukraine, for our region and for Europe, it is fundamental that any negotiations regarding the end of the war do not take place behind the backs of the key subjects who are affected by the consequences of Russian aggression,” Zelensky said in a statement on Telegram.
“In order for the war to end in a reliable and lasting peace, no mistakes should be made. This is possible only when the negotiations are fair and the guarantees are developed with the participation of everyone who is really capable of giving them.”
Trump, during the press conference, blamed Ukraine and its leadership for the war and its continuation while criticizing Kyiv’s complaints that they weren’t invited to the negotiations.
“You’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it. Three years. You should have never started it,” he said, though the war began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “You could have made a deal.”
Trump stated that if he were president prior to the start of the war, he would have negotiated a deal that would have seen Ukraine retain “almost all of the land” it has sovereignty over and prevented the fighting.
“A half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago, I think, without the loss of much land, very little land, without the loss of many lives, without the loss of cities just laying on their sides,” Trump said.
“When they’re worried about not being seated, someone who should have gone in and made a deal a long time ago. You could have made a deal,” he said.
Russia has a long history of interfering in elections, in particular Ukraine in an effort to undermine its sovereignty and democracy.
Putin’s demand for elections in Ukraine have raised allegations of hypocrisy as he has ruled Russia for some decades as well as concerns that the Kremlin leader will use the elections to install a pro-Russia leader.
“Putin is now asking for a new election in Ukraine, conducted in a specific manner that he can influence, so that he can install his puppet and accomplish that which he couldn’t militarily,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said in a statement prior to Trump speaking.
“Nice try, Vladimir.”
Trump’s comments continue a dramatic policy change for the United States.
Under the previous administration of President Joe Biden, the United States cobbled together a coalition of democratic nations to support Ukraine and said Washington would be by Kyiv’s side for as long as it takes.
Under the three weeks of Trump, the United States resumed communication with Russia, warned that returning Ukraine to pre-2014 borders was “unrealistic” and that a peace deal would not include Kyiv’s ascension to NATO.
The Trump administration has been attacked by critics who say it is capitulating to Russia, while it maintains that it is trying to bring an end to the war.
Ukrainian elections scheduled for March were postponed due to the country being under martial law because of Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022 invasion.
