"Demolition" of Zelensky, part 3

"I think the Russians want to see the end of the war, I really do. I think they have the cards because they have taken a lot of territory. They hold the cards," Trump said.

He said this in an interview with the BBC while returning to Washington after a speech at an investment meeting in Florida, which was held with the support of Saudi Arabia, where he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" for the second time yesterday.

Asked if he believed Russia wanted peace, Trump replied: "I do."

Trump was angered by Zelensky when, reacting to the American-Russian negotiations held in Saudi Arabia in which Kyiv did not participate, he said yesterday that US president "lives in a space of disinformation" controlled by Moscow.

Just hours after calling Zelensky a "dictator without an election" in a Truth Social post, Trump used the same word for him in a speech in Florida.

"He's refusing the elections. He's ranking low in Ukrainian polls. How can you be high when every city is collapsing?" Trump said in a speech in Florida.

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Zelensky's five-year term was supposed to expire in May this year, but the elections were suspended due to the state of war, which has been in effect since 2022.

Trump claims that Zelensky has only four percent of support in Ukraine, but the BBC reports that a poll conducted this month showed that 57 percent of Ukrainians trust their president.

Trump's statements provoked criticism from European leaders yesterday, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that "it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy."

European leaders warn that no agreement can be reached without the participation and consent of the Ukrainians, and they also demand that the EU has its place at the table in the peace negotiations.