Trump: Zelensky needs to be a realist, massive corruption is happening in Ukraine, it's time to hold elections
The US President has again spoken about the presidential elections in Ukraine, as well as about the war and disagreements with European leaders.
When asked by a journalist what exactly the US president meant on Tuesday when he said that Zelensky needed to start accepting certain things, Trump replied that the Ukrainian president needed to be a realist, writes the BBC.
«I think he needs to be a realist. And I'm really interested in how long it will be until the elections. Yes, it's a democracy. It's a long time. They haven't had elections in a long time. They are losing a lot of people. And, perhaps, people, you know, if you look at the polls, I would say 82% of people are demanding a settlement. The Ukrainian people want to see a settlement,» Trump said.
The US President also added that «massive corruption is happening» in Ukraine.
«I'm not criticizing anyone, but there is indeed massive corruption happening there. And they are asking: when, people are asking this question, when will the elections take place? Are they going to hold elections or just continue in the same vein? So I think it's time to settle this war. And I think this war can be settled, but it takes two to tango,» the American president said.
Donald Trump also hinted at disagreements with European leaders regarding Ukraine, stating that new meetings could become a waste of time — after Kyiv, according to media reports, submitted its latest proposals for ending the war to Washington.
«I think we had some minor disagreements regarding some people, and we'll see how it ends. And we said that before the meeting we want to know certain things. They would like us to have a meeting in Europe this weekend. And we will make a decision depending on what they present.
We don't want to waste time. Sometimes you have to let people sort things out themselves, and sometimes you don't. But the problem is that by letting people sort things out themselves, you lose thousands of people a week. It's absurd,» Reuters quotes Trump.
According to him, he spoke with the leaders of France, Germany, and Great Britain about Ukraine «in fairly harsh terms».
Trump added that European leaders want to hold a meeting in Europe this weekend with the participation of Zelensky and the US, but he will decide on his participation only after receiving «answers» from them.
Ukraine submitted its response to the «peace plan» to the US
«Ukraine on Wednesday presented its response to the Trump administration on the latest draft US peace plan, Ukrainian and American officials told me,» Axios correspondent Barak Ravid wrote on X.
Earlier, Bloomberg agency reported on Kyiv's submission of an updated version of the «peace plan» to the United States.
Officially, Kyiv has not yet confirmed the submission of the revised document to Washington.
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