Trump advises ‘dictator’ Zelenskiy to move quickly toward peace or lose Ukraine.

WASHINGTON, KYIV (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday as “a dictator without elections” and warned him that he needed to act quickly to achieve peace or risk losing his nation.

Trump commented hours after Zelenskiy responded to his assertion that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, claiming the US president was locked in a Russian misinformation bubble.

“A dictator without elections, Zelenskiy better move quickly or he will no longer have a country,” Trump tweeted on his Truth social media site.

In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that no one could compel his country to give in. “We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha declared on X.

In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that no one could compel his country to concede. “We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha stated on X.

Zelenskiy’s five-year tenure was set to expire in 2024, but presidential and legislative elections cannot be place under martial rule, which Ukraine declared in February 2022 in reaction to Russia’s invasion.

Russia has grabbed around 20% of Ukraine and is slowly but surely acquiring territory in the east. Moscow stated that its “special military operation” was in response to an existential danger presented by Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership. Ukraine and the West see Russia’s actions as an imperialist territorial grab.

Zelenskiy, who met with Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Wednesday, said he wants Trump’s team to know “more truth” about Ukraine, a day after Trump said Ukraine “should never have started” the conflict with Russia.

According to the Ukrainian leader, Trump’s claim that his support rating is at 4% is Russian propaganda, and any move to oust him would fail.

“We have proof that these data are being discussed between the US and Russia. That is, President Trump unhappily lives in this misinformation area,” Zelenskiy told Ukrainian television.

According to the latest study from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted in early February, 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelenskiy.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended US policy on Ukraine and Russia, ending Washington’s bid to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine with a Trump-Putin phone call and talks between senior US and Russian officials.