President Donald Trump on Sunday harshly criticized the Ukrainian leadership for what he called a "total lack of gratitude" toward the United States, amid negotiations in Geneva on his plan to end the war with Russia.
“UKRAINE’S LEADERSHIP HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, using all caps to emphasize his message.
The US president also lashed out at Europe for continuing to buy oil from Russia while the United States sells “MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DOLLARS WORTH WEAPONS TO NATO, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UKRAINE.”
Trump claimed he inherited “a war that should never have happened” and that it began during the administration of Joe Biden, whom he blamed for giving away military aid to Ukraine. “CORRID JOE GAVE IT ALL AWAY, FREE, FREE, FREE, INCLUDING LOTS OF MONEY!” he wrote.
The president insisted that the war would not have happened if he had remained in office after 2020, claiming that Putin “would never have attacked” and only did so when he saw Biden “in action”.
Zelensky: “Include Ukrainian perspectives”
Trump's criticism came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Geneva, where Ukrainian, American, and European officials were meeting to discuss Trump's 28-point plan for Ukraine.
The US government is now presenting the plan as “a framework for negotiations”, which aims to end the conflict triggered by the 2022 Russian invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said before Trump's remarks that the controversial US plan to end the war with Russia could include"Ukrainian perspectives."
“Currently, there is an understanding that US proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical to Ukrainian national interests,” he said on social media.
Zelensky also considered it"positive that diplomacy has been revived and that dialogue can be constructive."
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told AFP that he and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni had spoken with Trump on Sunday about the US plan.
“President Trump answered the phone at 5 a.m. on Sunday in the United States, which simply shows that he is working around the clock to find a peace agreement in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” Stubb said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa.
The plan, welcomed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, reiterates Moscow's demands, such as Ukraine ceding territory, agreeing to reduce the size of its army, and abandoning its plans to join NATO.
Rubio said the proposal “is offered as a solid framework for the ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”
In a joint statement, the leaders of key European countries, as well as Japan and Canada, said that Washington's plan"is a foundation that will require additional work" and expressed their fear that it would leave Ukraine "vulnerable to future attacks."
However, on Saturday he answered “no” to the question of whether his plan was a “final offer” to resolve the conflict.
