This post was originally published on RT
You will shortly be re-directed to the publisher's website
The US president has claimed that Vladimir Zelensky is deeply unpopular
US President Donald Trump has said that Ukraine may have to hold new elections and insisted that its de facto leader, Vladimir Zelensky, is unpopular.
Trump made the comments hours after US and Russian negotiators met in Riyadh to discuss ways to end the Ukraine conflict. It was the first such meeting since Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden, suspended most contact with Moscow in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Moscow no longer considers Zelensky legitimate because his five-year presidential term expired in May 2024 and no new elections were called due to martial law.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump said Zelensky is widely unpopular at home. “The leader in Ukraine – I hate to say it – but he’s down at a 4% approval rating. ” Trump said.
“When they want a seat at the [negotiating] table, you could say – wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” Trump stated. “That’s not a ‘Russia thing.’ That’s something coming from me, and coming from many other countries also.”
Ukrainian officials insist that it is impossible to hold new elections while the conflict with Russia is ongoing.
Zelensky’s approval rating skyrocketed to 90% during the first months of the conflict in 2022, but has since sunk to around 50%, following the losses on the battlefield and persistent problems with the economy. Last month, Ukrainian media cited a Socis poll as suggesting that just 40% of Ukrainians have confidence in Zelensky, while nearly 72% said the same about former top general Valery Zaluzhny, who is now an ambassador in London.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Putin is open to negotiating with Zelensky, but only if the issue of the Ukrainian leader’s “disputed legitimacy” is resolved.