The US and Europe reacted to Trump's attacks on Zelensky

Even some Republicans were outraged by Trump's remarks

US President Donald Trump continues to criticize Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. On February 18, he actually accused him of starting a war with Russia , and the next day he called him a dictator. In response, Democrats, European leaders and some members of the Republican Party spoke out in support of Zelensky.

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“He refuses to hold elections, has an extremely low rating in Ukrainian polls, and the only thing he has done well is manipulate Biden. A dictator without elections, Zelensky better hurry up, otherwise he won’t have a country left at all,” Trump wrote on his social network Truth. He also once again accused Zelensky of wasting money received from the United States as military aid, and noted that the White House is now “successfully conducting peace negotiations” with Russia.

Elon Musk also joined in the criticism of Zelensky by the White House administration

Trump was joined in attacking Zelensky by his son Donald Trump Jr., Vice President J.D. Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump appointed to head the Department of Government Effectiveness, which he founded. Thus, Vance said that the President of Ukraine should not “insult” Trump.

"Zelensky is going to change the president's mind by smearing him in the media... Anyone who knows the president will tell you that this is a disgusting way to treat this administration," he told the Daily Mail.

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Musk made criticism in his usual form - in the form of posts on X. The billionaire accused Zelensky of murdering American blogger Gonzalo Lira, who held pro-Russian views and was a supporter of conspiracy theories. In May 2023, the SBU arrested him in Kharkov on charges of “justifying Russian aggression,” and in January 2024, the blogger died in a Ukrainian pre-trial detention center. In his last letter, Lira said that he had double pneumonia.

Musk also criticized the shooting of Vladimir and Elena Zelensky for Vogue magazine in the summer of 2022 by Annie Leibovitz. “He did this while children were dying in the trenches at the front,” Musk wrote.

Some Republicans do not share Trump's position

Some Republicans, however, were more reserved in their assessment of Trump's actions. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, when asked if he was concerned about the American president's rhetoric, said Trump and his team are working to achieve a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, "and we need to give them the space to do that."

Louisiana Republican Senator John F. Kennedy Jr. said he doesn't want to "come between President Zelensky and President Trump" and thinks "they're both good people and want the same thing."

However, several members of the Republican Party expressed support for Zelensky. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis disagreed with Trump's characterization of Zelensky as a “dictator,” although he did not directly criticize the American president. He emphasized that “there is no moral equivalence between Vladimir Putin and President Zelensky.” Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi also said that "Putin is a war criminal and should spend the rest of his life in prison, unless executed."

Mike Pence, who was US Vice President from 2017 to 2021, during Trump’s first presidential term, also criticized Trump. “Mr. President, Ukraine did not “start” this war. Russia launched a wanton and brutal invasion that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. The path to peace must be built on truth,” he wrote in X.

US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: "It is disgusting to see an American president turn his back on one of our friends and openly side with a thug like Putin."

Traditionally, Zelensky was supported by Europe

Zelensky was also supported by a number of European politicians. On the evening of February 19, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer telephoned the Ukrainian president. According to a press release on the British government's website, during the phone call he "expressed his support for President Zelensky as the democratically elected leader of Ukraine and stated that it would be entirely reasonable to suspend elections during war, as Britain did during World War II." At the same time, Stramer supported US efforts to achieve “a lasting peace in Ukraine that would deter Russia from any future aggression.”

Zelensky was also supported by the head of the opposition Conservative Party , Kemi Badenoch. “President Zelensky is not a dictator. He is the democratically elected leader of Ukraine who bravely stands up to Putin's illegal invasion. Under my leadership and under successive Conservative prime ministers, we have always stood with Ukraine and always will,” she wrote in X.

“The fact that it is impossible to hold elections during a war is in accordance with the provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution and electoral laws. No one should argue otherwise,” Scholz said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also pointed out that Zelensky is the legitimate head of Ukraine. According to him, denying Zelensky’s legitimacy is “simply wrong and dangerous.” “The fact that it is impossible to hold elections during a war is in accordance with the provisions of the Ukrainian Constitution and electoral laws. No one should argue otherwise,” Scholz said.

Czech President Petr Pavel, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, press secretary of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Stephane Dujarric and others also spoke out in support of Zelensky.

Trump began to criticize Zelensky after the Ukrainian side refused to sign an agreement on rare earth metals at the Munich Security Conference , as well as after negotiations between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia, to which Ukraine was not invited. “Today I heard [from Ukrainians]: “Oh, we weren’t invited [to the negotiations in Riyadh].” But you've been there for three years. You had to finish the war in three years. You shouldn't have even started it. You could make a deal,” Trump said.

Photo: Meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky on September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

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