U.S. president Donald Trump has delivered a strong message to Kyiv, issuing an ultimatum with Washington pressing for a peace agreement with Russia by Christmas.
Speaking to Politico, Trump said that Ukraine is losing the war and—despite its courage—must face reality:
Russia has the upper hand. And they always did. They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger…. At some point, size will win, generally. And this is a massive size, when you take a look at the numbers, I mean, the numbers are just crazy.
When asked about Zelensky’s resistance to U.S. proposals, Trump did not soften his words:
Well, he’s gonna have to get on the ball and start accepting things. You know, when you’re losing, ’cause he’s losing.
The president also blasted European leaders for their handling of the war: “You get some real stupid ones, too. But they’re not doing a good job. Europe is not doing a good job in many ways” he said. According to Trump, European Union leaders would let Ukraine fight “until they drop” rather than pursue a realistic settlement.
He voiced the same criticism in the Politico interview published yesterday, describing Europe as “weak” and “decaying”—as a result of uncontrolled migration and poor leadership— with leaders who are full of rhetoric but short on results:
Most European nations, they’re decaying. They’re decaying…They’re coming in from all parts of the world, but they want to be politically correct and don’t want to send them back to where they came from.
Trump also noted that Kyiv has postponed elections under martial law, accusing Ukrainian leadership of “using the war” to avoid democratic accountability.
