The White House is making clear that it holds both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responsible for the invasion of Ukraine.
President Donald Trump complained on Monday during a White House press conference with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that Zelensky helped “start” the conflict and is “always looking to purchase missiles.”
“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” Trump said when asked about Ukraine’s intention to purchase munitions. “When you start a war, you got to know you can win.”
The president specifically named Zelensky as one of “three people” who are responsible for “millions of people dead” in the conflict.
“Let’s say Putin No. 1, let’s say Biden who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and [then] Zelensky,” Trump told reporters.
Zelensky is growing increasingly frustrated with the administration’s rhetoric accusing Ukraine of starting, prolonging, or otherwise contributing to the circumstances of the conflict.
An unexpected Russian attack on Palm Sunday killed 34 people, injuring an additional 117. It’s the latest in an increasingly dire series of strikes on Ukraine as Russia continues to reclaim territory and push deeper into the nation’s borders.
The Ukrainian president told CBS News in a weekend interview that he believes “Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S.”
“How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing, and to still believe that they are not the aggressors, that they did not start this war?” Zelensky told the outlet. “This speaks to the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on U.S. politics, and U.S. politicians.”
Vice President JD Vance, perhaps Zelensky’s most high-profile critic in the White House, has pushed back on the Ukrainian leader’s accusations.
“I think it’s sort of absurd for Zelensky to tell the [U.S.] government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians,” Vance told Reuters.
He continued, “That doesn’t mean you morally support the Russian cause or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict.”
WITKOFF MEETS PUTIN IN RUSSIA AS TRUMP SAYS TO ‘GET MOVING’ ON PEACE DEAL
Trump has not been entirely forgiving toward Putin, describing himself as “pissed off” and telling envoys to “get going” on a peace deal, but has given the Russian leader a long leash despite the Kremlin’s lack of urgency in ending the conflict.
“I think it was terrible, and I was told [the Russians] made a mistake,” Trump said of the Palm Sunday attack. “I think the whole war is a horrible thing. I think for that war to have started is an abuse of power this country would have never allowed to have started if I were president.”