Washington: If it wasn’t already clear that Donald Trump blames Ukraine at least as much as Russia for the war started by Vladimir Putin, he has now said the quiet part out loud while answering questions at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
“Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited’,” Trump said of Ukraine’s anger at being excluded from US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia. “Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it, three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
US President Donald Trump speaks to the media at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.Credit: AP
He went on: “I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.”
It takes a peculiarly twisted logic to assert a sovereign nation, having been invaded (multiple times), is at fault for the ensuing war because it fought back rather than sacrificing its territory and cutting a deal. It’s appalling – and faintly childish – to suggest that means they “started it”.
Trump parroted more Putin talking points when he demanded Ukraine hold elections as part of a peace deal. Putin has painted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as illegitimate because his term would have ended last May if martial law hadn’t been declared in response to Russia’s invasion.
The US president heaped more lies upon Zelensky when he claimed – without evidence – that the Ukrainian president’s approval rating was 4 per cent. The latest polling, from December, put it at 52 per cent – which is, incidentally, higher than Trump’s popularity in recent surveys.
The stabilisation medical centre receives wounded Ukrainian soldiers and provides first aid in Donetsk Region, Kurakhove frontline, Ukraine, on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
On CNN, Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, put her finger on the undertone of Trump’s comments. “What I hear is anger … anger towards Ukraine – the victim,” she said. “It’s not at all helpful in terms of the negotiation.”
Sanner pointed out there were things to like about Trump’s drive to end the conflict. It was probably good he and Putin were talking, she said. But for those who want justice for Ukraine, the vibes are off. “It’s the way all of this is going about. It’s the tone of it,” Sanner said.
