Donald Trump has criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for refusing to negotiate a peace deal with Russia over the ongoing war, saying that even the “worst deal” is better than what he described as their current level of devastation. Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump pointed out that Ukraine could never regain its “many dead people” and towns that have been destroyed.
“Those cities are gone. They’re gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump told the audience. He emphasized that any deal would have been better than what is there now, which he described as catastrophic. “You have a country that has been obliterated. It’ll take hundreds of years to rebuild, and there’s not enough money even if the whole world contributed.”
According to Trump, even a bad deal would have saved more lives and structures.
“It would have been much better if they made a bad deal. They would have given up a little bit, and everybody would be living, and every building would be built,”
He said.
Additionally, Trump said Zelenskyy “has made terrible statements about me, as has everybody else, I might add.” The apparent reference was to an interview published in The New Yorker in which Zelenskyy said Trump has no workable plan for ending the war. Zelenskyy also described Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, as “too radical” after Vance said that “everything is going to be on the table” regarding land concessions as part of a ceasefire.
These comments by Trump represent the most pointed criticism of Zelenskyy and his handling of the conflict yet. The remarks came shortly after Zelenskyy addressed the UN General Assembly, urging global leaders not to settle for a mere “lull” in fighting but to strive for a “real, just peace.” He reiterated his 2022 “peace formula,” which calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
The former president has long maintained he could end the war quickly but rarely has detailed how. In an interview with the Lex Friedman Podcast last week, Trump said he had a “very exacting plan” to end the conflict but refused to go into details until he decided to execute it.
