TEHRAN, February 20 (MNA) – US President Donald Trump has turned against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, launching verbal attacks against the European leader while engaging diplomatically with Russia.A war of words began between the two presidents after Washington and Moscow arranged a meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss the Ukraine war, leaving out Kiev.

The meeting followed a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, earlier this month in which they agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.

The meeting was met with a harsh response from Zelensky, who said Kiev would not accept any agreement in whose negotiation it was not involved.

And he criticized the Trump administration of “bringing Putin out of isolation.” Trump then tacitly held Ukraine responsible for starting the war.

“You’ve been there for three years, you should have ended it… You should have never started it.

You could have made a deal,” he said, indirectly addressing Zelensky.

Describing the Ukrainian president as “a dictator,” Trump on Wednesday warned Zelensky that he had to move fast with negotiations to end the war or risk not having a country to lead.

Zelensky said later that Trump was falling into a Russian “disinformation” trap.

Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago.

Earlier, in 2014, Russia had taken over Crimea, then Ukrainian territory.

While the former US President Joe Biden administration had attempted to isolate Russia over the war, Trump has picked up on a policy that he had adopted in his first term in office, engaging with Moscow.

The US president’s decision to start negotiations with Russia without Ukraine’s participation and the subsequent clashes with the Ukrainian president now leaves Zelensky in an awkward position.

MNA/