Bernd Debusmann Jr
BBC News
Reporting fromAir Force One
Donald Trump says he believes Russia has “the cards” in any peace talks to end the war in Ukraine because Russia has “taken a lot of territory”.
The US president told the BBC he trusted that Moscow wants to see an end to the war, which Russia started when it waged a full-scale invasion almost three years ago.
Trump was flying back to Washington DC after speaking at a Saudi-backed investment meeting in Florida, where he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” for the second time in a day.
Trump has been angered after Zelensky, reacting to US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia from which Kyiv was excluded, said the US president was “living in a disinformation space” governed by Moscow.
“I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory. They have the cards,” Trump told the BBC on Air Force One.
When asked if he trusts that Russia wants peace, Trump said “I do”.
He was speaking after lashing out at Zelensky in Florida, where Trump called the Ukrainian president a “dictator”, just hours after using the same word in a Truth Social post.
A White House official said Trump’s post was in direct response to Zelensky’s “disinformation” comments.
“He refuses to have elections. He’s low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high with every city being demolished?” Trump said in Florida.
Zelensky’s five-year term of office was due to come to an end in May 2024. However, Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and elections are suspended.
Trump has attempted to make an issue out of Zelensky’s popularity, claiming the Ukrainian president had only a 4% approval rating. But BBC Verify reports that polling conducted this month found 57% of Ukrainians said they trusted the president.
The “dictator” slur quickly prompted criticism from European leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said “it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy”.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made it clear he backed Zelensky in a phone call to the Ukrainian president.
On Tuesday US and Russian officials held their first high-level, face-to-face talks since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine was not invited.
Trump then appeared to blame Ukraine for the war, stating “you should have never started it. You could have made a deal”.
In response, Zelensky accused Russia of lying during Tuesday’s “notorious meeting”.
“With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader… he is living in this disinformation space,” he said.
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