Paris (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A French government spokesperson said that France does not understand why U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was to blame for Russia’s attack and the ensuing war.
“We don’t understand the logic very well,”
Spokesperson Sophie Primas briefed reporters, expressing
“the diverse, varied and often incomprehensible comments by President Trump”.
She stated Trump had made a number of statements on Ukraine over the past few days without consulting his European partners.
Donald Trump, in remarks to reporters, stated:
“You’ve been there for three years,” referring to troubles that Ukraine had been excluded from discussions between Russia and the United States. “You should’ve never started it. You could have made a deal.”
How is Europe responding to US-Russia talks that exclude Ukraine?
Ukraine and its partners in Europe were shocked by the decision by US and Russia to hold peace discussions in Saudi Arabia this week. Even before the discussions took place, some European politicians blamed Trump’s administration for handing free privileges to Moscow last week by denying NATO membership for Ukraine and stating it was a fantasy for Kyiv to believe it could reclaim the 20% of its territory now under Russian authority.
Ukraine has stated it will not accept an agreement imposed on it without its approval, which European leaders have repeated, while Russia has rejected conceding land it has won.
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an informal meeting on Ukraine with some European heads and NATO partner Canada at 4 p.m. (1500 GMT), following a similar arrangement with the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, the European Union, Denmark and the Netherlands
Moreover, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy retaliated at Donald Trump’s proposition that Ukraine was responsible for Russia’s 2022 full-scale attack, expressing that the U.S. president was stuck in a Russian disinformation bubble. Talking ahead of dialogues with Trump’s Ukraine delegate a day after Trump expressed Ukraine “should never have started” the battle, Zelenskiy expressed he would like Trump’s administration to have “more truth” about Ukraine.
