US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “not a good guy for us to deal with” and criticised Ukraine’s renewed strikes on Russian oil refineries, calling them a “disgrace” in an interview on Thursday.
Trump also partly blamed former US president Barack Obama for the war, referring to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which took place during Obama’s presidency. Asked whether he had lost faith in Zelensky, Trump said he believed the war would eventually end in a settlement but claimed the Ukrainian president was unwilling to reach an agreement. “They’re not gonna do it with him. He doesn’t wanna settle. No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky. They’ve destroyed that country.
“I thought you asked President Zelensky not to do that,” Finnerty said. “I think they’re gonna end up with a settlement of some kind,” Trump said. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn’t. Asked whether the war would end before he left office, Trump said it should conclude soon, adding that he found Zelensky more difficult to deal with than Russian President Vladimir Putin. During an interview with Piers Morgan on Wednesday, Zelensky said he felt “betrayed” by Trump’s diesel deal with Putin. He also described it as a “pity” to be losing a “strong partner” in the US and said doing business with the Russian president was not the “right side of history”. The Ukrainian president had earlier told the Financial Times that the pause in strikes against Russian oil refineries was “done”, arguing that Moscow was not adhering to a ceasefire on attacks against energy infrastructure announced by Trump.
