Video: Time for someone else to negotiate for Ukraine — Trump

Abdullateef Fowewe

United States President Donald Trump has claimed that it is “time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine,” criticising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while expressing willingness to join a potential trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Video: Time for someone else to negotiate for Ukraine — Trump

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said, “Zelenskyy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Zelenskyy is a man that should’ve had this war settled a long time ago. And to be honest, I think it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”

He added that Ukraine is “losing their male population” and claimed Russia “has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much.”

In related remarks, Trump indicated he would participate in a meeting with Putin and Xi if it focused on nuclear weapons and denuclearisation.

“If Putin and Xi want a trilateral meeting in China, I would like to have it,” he said.

He clarified the primary purpose would not be the Ukraine conflict, “I would do it, not so much for Ukraine. We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation.”

The comments come amid strained relations between Washington and Kyiv.

Trump’s administration has waived certain sanctions on Russia, arranged purchases of Russian diesel, and faced Ukrainian complaints about delayed military supplies, including Patriot interceptors. Zelenskyy has publicly criticized these moves, saying the U.S. was on the “wrong side of history.”

Trump rejected the accusation and insisted his goal is ending the fighting, stating he would take any step “to end the war, whether somebody’s there or not.”

The idea of a trilateral summit stems from recent discussions.

Putin proposed such a meeting on the sidelines of next month’s APEC summit in China to address the Ukraine war in terms favorable to Moscow, according to reports.