Donald Trump has said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a “four percent approval rating,” suggesting Ukrainians want an election while addressing Ukraine's exclusion from Saudi peace talks.
Trump's comments came on Tuesday after U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the ongoing Ukraine conflict, with Ukraine and its European allies notably left out of the discussions.
In response, European leaders convened an emergency summit in Paris.
Addressing the exclusion of Ukraine at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the U.S. president said: “Well, we have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine,” suggesting that a low approval rating for Zelenskyy indicated that Ukrainians might be eager for a vote.
He added: “Wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have to say, ‘It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election’?
“That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries.”
Following the expiry of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s five-year term in 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine should hold a presidential election.
However, according to the Ukrainian constitution, presidential elections are not allowed under martial law.
Trump also blamed the Ukrainian government for failing to reach a peace agreement with Russia in the past three years, saying, “Today I heard, oh, well, we (Ukraine) weren’t invited. Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years ago. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
According to media reports, the most recent proposal for a peace plan consists of three stages, a ceasefire, presidential elections in Ukraine and ultimately a peace deal.
