Trump has previously accused the Ukrainian leader of stalling peace talks
Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that “Russian narratives are prevailing” within the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has previously suggested the Ukrainian leader is not ready for peace.
There has been not just “a shift in tone” in Washington, but also “a shift in reality,” Zelensky told CBS News. He referred to Trump calling him “a dictator without elections” in February, as well as suggestions by some US officials that Ukraine started the conflict.
“It is wrong that America wants to be neutral,” he lamented in an interview aired on Sunday. Washington was Kiev’s biggest arms supplier and financial supporter during the previous administration of President Joe Biden. Trump has vowed to cut support and end the conflict.
Zelensky’s comments come amid White House efforts to achieve a deal to end the Ukraine conflict. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia for the third time in two months last week to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow and Washington have been engaged in negotiations since Trump took office in January, and have held several rounds of high-level talks focused on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine and restoring bilateral relations.
Last month, Zelensky publicly supported a 30-day moratorium on strikes targeting energy infrastructure agreed by Putin and Trump. However, Moscow claims that Kiev has repeatedly broken it since.
The Ukrainian leader also accused US Vice President J.D. Vance of “somehow justifying Putin’s actions” after he said the Russian president could be trusted and implied that Zelensky was spreading a false narrative. Zelensky came under fire for ingratitude and for resisting calls to agree to a ceasefire with Moscow during a bitter dispute with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office in February.
Zelensky has alleged that these incidents are a result of the “enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on US politics, and US politicians.”
While acknowledging that Moscow and Kiev should work to end the conflict “as soon as possible” and transit to diplomacy, Zelensky claimed that he “can’t trust negotiations with Russia.”
The US president reiterated on Sunday that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would have never happened if he had won the 2020 election, describing it as “Biden’s war.” He also said that stopping the fighting remains a top priority, but admitted the challenges involved.
