Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said US President Donald Trump was trapped in a “disinformation bubble.”
Speaking on February 19, Zelensky also dismissed a false claim by Trump about the Ukrainian leader’s popularity rating being at 4 per cent.
Zelensky, whose trust rating stood at 57 per cent according to a Kyiv pollster, said attempts to replace him would not work, a day after Trump accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia and said he was broadly unpopular with the Ukrainian people.
The Ukraine war began when Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in a full-scale invasion three years ago.
The Ukrainian leader, in his first remarks in response, intimated that Trump was repeating disinformation regarding the situation that he said was ultimately coming from Moscow.
“As we are talking about 4 per cent, we have seen this disinformation, we understand it’s coming from Russia,” Zelensky told a news conference broadcast on Ukrainian television on February 19.
“President Trump … unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” he added. “Around Trump there is a disinformation bubble.”
Trump made the remarks on February 18 while also accusing Zelensky of starting the war against Russia. The US has been engaged in bilateral talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia over a possible peace deal.
Fast-moving diplomacy on Ukraine, beginning with a Trump call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12, has triggered alarm in Ukraine and European capitals.
Their concern has been that the two leaders could cut a quick deal that ignored their security interests, rewarded Moscow for its invasion and left Putin free to threaten Ukraine or other countries in the future.
Trump sent his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Kyiv also on February 12 with a deal for access to Ukraine’s natural resources.
Zelensky told reporters on February 19 he did not sign it as it did not offer any guarantees in return.
“I defend Ukraine, I can’t sell our country,” he said.
