Trump Is Angry With Ukrainian President, Considers Zelenskiy To Be Ditaktor Without Elections

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as "a dictator without elections".

Trump stressed that the President of Ukraine should move quickly to ensure peace or Zelenskiy will no longer have a country.

Trump spoke hours after Zelenskiy retaliated on charges that Ukraine was responsible for Russia's massive invasion in 2022.

Zelenskyy said the US president was caught in a bubble of Russian disinformation.

"Seorang Dictator tanpa Pemilu, Zelensky sebaiknya bergerak cepat atau dia tidak akan punya negara yang tersisa," tulis Trump di platform media Truth Social miliknya dilansir Reuters, Rabu, 19 Februari.

Zelenskiy, who met Trump's envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Wednesday, said he wanted Trump's team to have "more truth" about Ukraine, the day after Trump said Ukraine should "not start" a conflict with Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said Trump's statement ranking his approval by only 4% was Russia's disinformation and any attempt to replace him would fail.

"We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space," Zelensky told Ukrainian TV.

The latest poll conducted by the Kyiv Institute of International Sociology in early February showed 57% of Ukrainians trusted Zelenskiy.

Less than a month after taking office, Trump has changed US policies on Ukraine and Russia, ending Washington's efforts to isolate Russia from their invasion of Ukraine through Trump-Putin's phone calls and talks between senior US and Russian officials.

Trump said he might see Putin this month. The Kremlin said such a meeting might take longer to prepare.