Trump suggests Zelenskyy is to blame for the Russia-Ukraine war

Donald Trump blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — an escalation of a pattern of sympathetic rhetoric toward the war’s aggressor, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser,” Trump said, referring to Zelenskyy, on a podcast with conservative commentator Patrick Bet-David published Thursday. The former president added that President Joe Biden had “instigated that war,” which he has repeatedly maintained “would never have happened” if he had been president.

In reality, Putin invaded the borders of Ukraine during a “special military operation” in Ukraine in 2022. Allies in the West considered the action a declaration of war. Over a million people have died or been injured as a result of the fighting, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Trump has demonstrated an increasingly friendly relationship with Putin over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month, he maintained that the war must end — but twice did not directly answer if he thought Ukraine should win.

And in a book released on Monday, journalist Bob Woodward reported that Trump had called Putin as many as seven times since leaving office and sent him Covid-19 tests for his private use while he was still president. Trump has not confirmed or denied the report.

In the podcast, Trump pushed back on critics saying he was “in the pocket” of Russia, saying he had “ended the biggest job they’d ever done,” referring to sanctions he approved on its Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany. (That pipeline was later shut down to reduce Europe’s consumption of Russian-supplied gas due to the conflict with Russia.)

Later, he added: “I have a good relationship with Putin and with Zelenskyy,” who he met with last month during the United Nations General Assembly. Ahead of that meeting, Trump promised to negotiate a deal that would be “good for both sides.”

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.