‘Move fast or lose Ukraine’: Donald Trump flips US position on Russia war, calls Zelensky ‘dictator’

United States President Donald Trump has alarmed European allies after he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a “dictator” on February 19, Reuters reported. Trump denounced Zelenskiy and warned him to “move quickly” to secure peace with Russia or risk losing his country, it added.

‘Will Defend our Right to Exist’ Says Ukraine Minister

Writing on his own social media platform Truth Social, Trump said: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.” Zelenskyy is an alternate spelling for the Ukrainian leader's name.

Soon after Trump's post, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in response declared that no one could force his country to give in. “We will defend our right to exist,” Sybiha wrote on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

The statement came a daty after Trump blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion in 2022, and has alarmed the US' European allies who believe that Trump's approach to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict could benefit Moscow, as per the report.

Less than a month into his presidency, Trump has upended US policy on the war, ending a campaign to isolate Russia with a Trump-Putin phone call and talks between senior US and Russian officials that have sidelined Ukraine, it added.

Trump-Zelenskiy Fued Deepens: Latest Updates

Amid the ongoing war with Russia and imposed martial law in Ukraine, presidential and parliamentary elections cannot be held, as per the Reuters report. Notably, Zelenskiy's five-year term was supposed to end in 2024. Martial law was imposed in February 2022 in response to Russia's invasion.

Zelenskiy himself on February 18 accused Trump of parroting Russian disinformation and called out the US President for claiming that Ukraine “should never have started” the war. The conflict began with Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago.

The statement drew criticism from US Vice President JD Vance,who on February 19 warned Zelenskiy against attacking Trump. “The idea that Zelenskiy is going to change the president's mind by badmouthing him in public media ... everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance said in his West Wing office, the Daily Mail reported.

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: What Has Happened So Far

Russia has seized some 20 per cent of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining more territory in the east. Moscow said its “special military operation” responded to an existential threat posed by Kyiv's pursuit of NATO membership. Ukraine and the West call Russia's action an imperialist land grab.

The Ukrainian leader said Trump's assertion that his approval rating was just 4 per cent was Russian disinformation and that any attempt to replace him would fail. “We have evidence that these figures are being discussed between America and Russia. That is, President Trump ... unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelenskiy told Ukrainian TV.

The latest poll from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, from early February, found 57 per cent of Ukrainians trust Zelenskiy.

European Leaders, Republicans React to Trump-Zelenskiy Fued

Following Trump's latest remarks, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Zelenskiy “sits in office after duly-held elections”. When asked who started the war, Dujarric responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was “false and dangerous” for Trump to call Zelenskiy a dictator, German newspaper Spiegel reported.

A few of Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress said they disagreed with the president's claim that Zelenskiy was a dictator and Ukraine bore responsibility for Russia's invasion. But they stopped short of criticizing Trump directly, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune — a longtime supporter of Ukraine — saying Trump needed “space” to work on a peace deal.

Europe Left Scrambling

European officials have been left shocked and flat-footed by the Trump administration's moves on Ukraine in recent days, the report noted.

It said that at a second meeting of European leaders in Paris, hastily arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, there were more calls for immediate action to support Ukraine and bolster Europe's defense capabilities, but few concrete decisions.

Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, amid other meetings aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, according to White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Following Trump's latest attacks, Zelenskiy discussed approaches to a peace settlement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Macron and Starmer, including the importance of security guarantees.

Starmer expressed support for Zelenskiy as Ukraine's democratically elected leader and said it was “perfectly reasonable” to suspend elections during wartime, Starmer's office said on Wednesday.

Kellogg, the US Ukraine envoy, said as he arrived in Kyiv that he understood “the need for security guarantees”, adding that part of his mission would be “to sit and listen”.

The 27-member European Union on Wednesday agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia, including on aluminium and vessels believed to be carrying sanctioned Russian oil.

Putin, Trump Want Summit

Trump said he may meet Putin this month. In Moscow, Putin said that Ukraine would not be barred from peace negotiations, but success would depend on raising the level of trust between Moscow and Washington.

Putin, speaking a day after Russia and the US met in Riyadh to hold their first talks on how to end the conflict, also said it would take time to set up a summit with Trump, which both men have said they want.

“We need to ensure that our teams prepare issues that are extremely important for both the US and Russia, including - but not only - on the Ukrainian track, in order to reach solutions acceptable to both sides,” Putin said in televised remarks.

Ukraine and European governments were not invited to Tuesday's talks in the Saudi capital, which magnified their concern that Russia and the US might cut a deal that ignores their vital security interests.

Ukraine was counting on “the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on Wednesday.

Trump says Europe must step up to guarantee any ceasefire deal.

Zelenskiy has suggested giving US companies the right to extract valuable minerals in Ukraine in return for US security guarantees, but said Trump was not offering that.

(With inputs from Reuters)