Donald Trump blames Zelensky for Ukraine war

The Telegraph: Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Republican presidential candidate said the Ukrainian leader, 46, should never have allowed the war to happen.

Speaking to podcaster Patrick Bet-David, he said: “I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen.

“Every time he comes in we give him $100 billion. Who else got that kind of money in history? There’s never been. And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him because I feel very badly for those people.

“But he should never have let that war start. That war is a loser.

“Ukraine, remember, is not Ukraine anymore.”

‘The country is rubble’

Trump added, speaking to the PBD podcast, that Ukraine’s cities had been “knocked down to the ground,” adding it looked like a demolition crew had “went through”.

“If we had a president with half a brain, it would have been easy to settle [before it started],” he said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he was serving in the White House.

He also previously said that “the people are dead” and “the country is in rubble”.

The former president has also claimed that he would be able to negotiate an end to the long-running conflict if he is re-elected, although he has not gone into the details of his strategy.

Ukrainian troops fire a D-30 Howitzer in the Kharkiv region as fighting continues - Alex Babenko/AP

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggering the largest land war on European soil since the Second World War.

Trump has repeatedly complained about US military support for the war-torn nation on the campaign trail ahead of the Nov 5 election.

He has also previously suggested that Mr Zelensky was at fault for the war mounted by Vladimir Putin.

Concerns over Trump’s relationship with Putin

The former president’s latest remarks come after a new book fuelled concerns over his relationship with the Russian leader.

When Trump met Mr Zelensky last month at Trump Tower, the American said he had a “very good relationship” with Putin.

It was then reported by Bob Woodward, the veteran journalist, that Trump had spoken to Putin as many as seven times since losing the 2020 presidential election.

In his book, War, Mr Woodward also claimed that Trump had sent American Covid tests to Moscow during the pandemic for Putin’s personal use.

Their apparent close relationship has been used by Kamala Harris’s campaign to suggest Trump would force Ukraine to cede land in a peace deal if he wins the upcoming election.

Reduction in US military aid for Ukraine

Meanwhile, a senior Nato official said European governments were bracing for a reduction in American military aid, regardless of who takes over the White House next month.

The Western military alliance has made plans for European governments to take a greater share of the burden of supporting Kyiv for when the next US leader takes office.

“It is a fair assumption that regardless of who wins the US election that the US share of contributions in Ukraine will probably decrease in relative terms,” the senior official said.

“That is also because Europe is significantly increasing the share it is providing in Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky visits an arms factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania in September - Presidential Office of Ukraine / Avalon

Nato has been long planning to “Trump proof” the alliance’s donations of weapons to Ukraine to aid its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

While the alliance has not directly contributed to Kyiv’s armed forces, its 32 member states have accounted for 99 per cent of foreign aid to the war-torn country.

Congress has passed five bills setting aside $175 billion to support Ukraine since Putin launched his invasion in February 2022.

In comparison, European Union countries and the United Kingdom have pledged roughly the same figure.

Under Nato plans to address the imbalance, largely aimed at placating previous complaints by Trump that Europe is not pulling its weight in terms of support for Ukraine, a new command centre will oversee the distribution of $43.3 billion in aid from the alliance.

The amount will cover both shipments of weapons to Kyiv and the training of its latest recruits.

It will likely be split between Nato member states according to the size of their economies, meaning the US will still pay the largest chunk but the likes of Germany, France and the UK will have to step up their contributions.