Soon after Donald Trump called the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a non-elected “dictator,” the top diplomats from Zelensky’s cabinet rushed to defend him for what they termed as unnecessary comments from the US president.
The public feud between Trump and Zelensky escalated on Wednesday. Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and accused him of tricking Washington into funnelling aid into “a war that couldn’t be won.”
Trump said Zelensky was doing “a terrible job” and was “not going to have a country left” unless he reached a ceasefire deal with Russia.
Several ministers from his cabinet, including staunch haters of Zelensky in the past, spoke out in his defense.
In a post on X, Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga wrote that Ukraine “withstood the most horrific military attack in Europe’s modern history.”
“The Ukrainian people and their President Zelensky refused to give in to Putin’s pressure,” he stated. “Nobody can force Ukraine to give up.”
“We can like or dislike Zelensky. We can condemn his actions or applaud them. Because he is our president,” Boris Filatov, the mayor of Dnepr, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, wrote on Facebook. He argued that neither the US nor Russia “have any right to badmouth” Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he no longer considers Zelensky to be the legitimate leader. Trump claimed on Tuesday that Zelensky’s approval rating is at 4 per cent and suggested that an election should be called.
Also read: Trump calls Zelensky a 'dictator,' blames Kyiv for war start
Zelensky responded by citing a poll that has him at 57 per cent. “If somebody wants to replace me right now, it will not happen,” he said.
His popularity skyrocketed to 90 per cent during the first months of the conflict with Russia in 2022 but has since decreased due to the constant loss of lives on the battlefield with Russia.
Furthermore, US Vice President J.D. Vance warned Zelensky on Wednesday that “badmouthing” Trump will not be helpful for an already agitated Trump, who is desperately trying to end the Ukraine war.
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