Trump Says Zelenskyy, Not Putin, Is the Problem

Jan. 20—In a Jan. 14 interview in the White House, Reuters asked U.S. President Donald Trump who was stalling the negotiations on peace in Ukraine. Trump answered simply: “Zelenskyy.” Reuters pressed him further and elicited from Trump: “I just think he’s [NATO's Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelenskyy], you know, having a hard time getting there. I think [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is ready to make a deal…. I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”

A source close to the White House says that Trump personally believes this—that Zelenskyy, and would add NATO are the main problem with reaching a deal on Ukraine. But the source said that he believed the President had to saw this to try to smooth the waters before his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner head for Moscow to meet with Putin. 

Saying that Zelenskyy was a problem did not sit well in Europeans capitals, where to blame for the wasr continuing is the fault of the Russian and Putin. An immediate objection was delivered by Poland’s neo-con Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who posted: “It is Russia who rejected the peace plan prepared by the U.S., not @ZelenskyyyUa. The only Russian response were further missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. This is why the only solution is to strengthen pressure on Russia. And you all know it.”