Ukraine updates: Trump calls Zelenskyy a 'dictator'

Mike Pence, who served as vice president in Trump's first administration from 2017 to 2021, rebuked Trump's assertion that Ukraine "started" the war against it. 

"Mr. President, Ukraine did not 'start' this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives," Pence wrote on X.  "The Road to Peace must be built on this Truth."

Pence posted a link to a February 24, 2022 article from US right-leaning news site Fox News, which had the title "Russia Invades Ukraine in Largest European Attack Since WWII." 

Pence, a conservative Christian Republican, rarely criticizes Trump.

However, Pence had a falling out with Trump during the first administration, after Pence refused to stop the January 6, 2021 certification of Trump's loss to then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. On that day, thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, with some chanting "Hang Mike Pence."

Pence said that Trump's denial of his 2020 election loss to Biden had endangered his family and others at the Capitol gathering for the certification ceremony on January 6.   

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has assured Volodymyr Zelenskyy of his support after US President Donald Trump called the Ukrainian President an unelected "dictator."

"The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelenskyy this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together," read a statement from Starmer's office on Wednesday.

It added that the Prime Minister "expressed his support for President Zelenskyy as Ukraine's democratically elected leader" and said that it was "perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time" just as the United Kingdom and other countries did during World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was counting on unity and courage from his compatriots and pragmatism from the United States.

"We are standing strong on our own two feet. I am counting on Ukrainian unity, our courage ... on the unity of Europe and the pragmatism of America," the Ukrainian leader said in his nightly video address.

He also said he hopes a meeting Thursday with US envoy Keith Kellogg will prove "constructive."

Zelenskyy's statement came after Trump called him a "dictator."

"Together with America and Europe, peace can be more reliable, and this is our goal," Zelenskyy said. "The future is not with Putin, but with peace. And it is a choice for everyone in the world — and for the powerful — to be with Putin or with peace. We should choose peace."

In the video address, Zelenskyy said he was confident peace could be reached.

"I am confident that we will end it, and with a lasting peace. And so that Russia cannot come to Ukraine again, and so that Ukrainians return from Russian captivity, and so that Ukraine has a future. This is a normal desire of every nation," he said.

Sweden's prime minister has warned that the outcome of the war in Ukraine will impact Europe's security for years to come, as the continent's leaders grapple with Washington's shifting plans on Ukraine under Trump.

"Europe and the world are currently at a crossroads. How the war against Ukraine will end will affect and shape the security of the whole of Europe for generations to come," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a Stockholm press conference.

"We take this very, very seriously," Kristersson said. "These are uncertain times, no doubt."

Kristersson also stressed the need for "a dramatic rearmament both to meet Ukraine's needs and to meet European needs after some kind of peace in Ukraine." 

He rejected comments by Trump calling Ukrainian president Zelenskyy a "dictator."

"President Zelensky is democratically elected. I think nobody wants elections more than Ukraine, because elections would mean that there is peace in Ukraine and that they can run their country again," the prime minister said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Der Spiegel magazine that US President Donald Trump calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator" was "wrong and dangerous."

"It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky democratic legitimacy," Scholz said. "That proper elections cannot be held in the middle of a war is in accordance with the requirements of the Ukrainian constitution and electoral laws."

Top German diplomat Annalena Baerbock told German broadcaster ZDF the US president's comment was "absurd."

"If you look at the real world instead of just firing off a tweet, then you know who in Europe has to live in the conditions of a dictatorship: people in Russia, people in Belarus," Baerbock said.

US President Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "better move fast" and called him a "dictator without elections" after the Ukrainian leader accused Trump of being stuck in a Russian "disinformation bubble."

"A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left," Trump wrote on his social media platform.

The post's wording was similar to past statements made by the Kremlin about Ukraine and Zelenskyy.

Trump also claimed the US was "successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia."

Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 for a five-year term but has stayed in power under martial law imposed following the Russian invasion. Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should not be excluded from any discussions about its future.

"It's a fundamental principle for Canada and for the vast majority of our allies ... Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," Trudeau said ahead of a meeting on the conflict to be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.

The Canadian leader's comments came a day after US and Russian officials held high-level talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war. Ukrainian representatives were not invited to the meeting.

Trudeau also challenged Trump's suggestion that Ukraine was to blame for the war.

"We had rules around borders, around not invading your neighbors that Russia chose deliberately to violate a number of years ago," he said. "And that puts at risk, not just Ukrainians' ability to determine their own future, it puts at risk all of our democracies, all of the rules that keep us safe and prosperous."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that her country will spend an extra 50 billion kroner ($7 billion, or around €6.7 billion) on defense over the next two years.

She told a press conference the boost was part of a response to the increasing threat from Russia.

"Does the world look uneasy? Yes. Is there reason to believe it will be over soon? No," she said.

The Nordic country has been one of the biggest contributors of military aid and equipment to Kyiv — relative to the size of its economy — since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. But this support means its own stocks of military hardware and ammunition are dwindling.

Frederiksen said the new funding was being sent to the military with the message: "Buy, buy, buy. Buy what can contribute to a stronger defense and thus to a stronger deterrence here and now. If we can't get the best equipment, buy the next best thing."

Her announcement also comes as NATO members come under pressure from US President Donald Trump to dramatically ramp up their military spending.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock replied on Wednesday to the sidelining of Europe and Ukraine in the peace process as US President Donald Trump takes an increasingly conciliatory approach to Russia.

"Long-term peace can only be achieved in Europe" if Europe participates in the process, she said.

However, she conceded that some proposals sought by Trump would be beneficial.

"The fact that the Americans are meeting with Russia, also in order to make their Moscow embassy fully functional again, could become useful for future talks," she said.

Regarding Trump's suggestion Kyiv was responsible for starting the war that kicked off with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, Baerbock said: 'No one but Putin' wanted a war in Ukraine.

Russian state news agencies reported that President Vladimir Putin was pleased following high-level talks between Kremlin officials and representatives of US President Donald Trump's administration.

"Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results," he was quoted by Interfax as saying of the talks held in Saudi Arabia. 

Putin later said he did not know when he would personally meet with Trump, despite the latter implying that a date was set for the end of February. Putin said that the two parties first had to build "trust."

"It is impossible to solve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis, without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States," he told a televised press briefing.

Responding to inaccurate comments from the US president that his approval rating was only 4%, President Zelenskyy said that "unfortunately, President Trump, who we have great respect for as leader of the American people ... lives in this disinformation space."

His claim comes directly from Russian propaganda, Zelenskyy added. The Ukrainian leader's approval rating has never dipped below 50% and has at times been as high as 70%. 

A phone poll of 1,000 Ukrainians carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, published on Wednesday, found that 57% of people approved of how Zelenskyy was executing his position.

The Ukrainian president added that he wouldn't "sell" Ukraine to the US, referring to a proposed deal from Trump that would see Kyiv paid back aid from Washington with rare earth minerals

"I am defending Ukraine, I cannot sell our country. That's all," he said, adding that the Trump administration was not being "serious" about the deal.

DW spoke with Peter Trubowitz, professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, about Donald Trump's attitude towards Russia and Ukraine.

"This is nothing short of strategic gaslighting," Trubowitz said of Trump's assertion that Ukraine is to blame for the war. It "should be seen for what it is, an effort to structure the negotiations over the war in a way that is less about guaranteeing Ukrainian security than, I think, realigning US-Russian relations."

He described Trump's concessions to Russia thus: "It's bold, it's dramatic. It's a surprise."

Trubowitz said it was all a piece of political theater in order to pressure Europe and "take advantage of Europe's dependence on the United States."

"The US has effectively sidelined Europe," by appealing directly to Russia, knowing that Europe has never been unanimous in its approach to the invasion and using that to his advantage.

"If I were [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, I would not feel confident in Europe's ability to lead right now."

The European Union has agreed to a 16th raft of sanctions against Moscow in Brussels.

As the third anniversary of the invasion approaches on February 24, the EU sought to combat Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers being used to evade sanctions against the country's energy sector.

The sanctions also targeted Russian aluminium production.

Andrzej Domanski, finance minister of Poland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said that it was "imperative" the measures be approved to mark "the third anniversary of this brutal aggression against Ukraine."

The package must be formally accepted by the bloc's foreign ministers, but that is considered a foregone conclusion.

"We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday that the government in Seoul was open to taking in North Korean prisoners of war captured by Ukraine.

Russia has been utilizing troops from North Korea in Ukraine since at least last summer.

"North Korean soldiers are constitutionally our citizens," Yonhap quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying, adding that they may "face persecution" if they return to the North.

Yonhap also quoted a North Korean prisoner as saying he would prefer to return to South Korea.

US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg is expected to arrive in Ukraine by train from Poland on Wednesday morning.

The visit will last three days, according to the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine.

"As to the trip into Ukraine, the trip is still being finalized, meaning if I'm going there, the answer is yes. Am I going to have an opportunity to meet with the President Zelenskyy? The answer is yes," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Kellogg as saying on Monday.

US President Donald Trump confirmed last week that he would send Kellogg, who is tasked with drawing up a proposal to halt the nearly three-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine, to Kyiv.