by Tyler Durden
February 20, 2025

from ZeroHedge Website
 

As expected the reaction from mainstream pundits and Ukraine's backers to Trump's Wednesday post decrying Zelenskyy as a "dictator" who "better move fast" on striking a peace deal and holding elections or else "he won't have a country left" has been swift and fierce.

The 'fact-checkers' are also out in force, for example with the NY Times quickly putting out a piece entitled,

"Trump Falsely Says Ukraine Started the War With Russia. Here Is What to Know."

They want the public to know why,

"the country isn't holding elections."

And above image is what CNN's frontpage is currently displaying, reviving the old debunked 'Russiagate' talking points of supposedly 'parroting Russian talking points'.

Many are using this moment to draw a line in the sand, describing Trump as in a state of "madness" and saying it's time for the world to unambiguously side with Zelenskyy, as did this German/Greens party member of European Parliament:
 

And Puck News' co-founder Julia Ioffe is dumbfounded and outraged:

"What I cannot understand is why the American establishment and its institutions are folding so quickly.

 

What are you people so afraid of? You never even had gulags," she wrote in an emotional appeal on X.

There's also the absurd accusations that Trump has 'switched sides' - after Zelenskyy strongly suggested earlier that Russia is feeding him 'disinformation'...

And the reaction from the neocons has been predictably loud:

"Trump's characterizations of Zelenskyy and Ukraine are some of the most shameful remarks ever made by a US President. Our support of Ukraine has never been about charity, our way of life at home depends on our strength abroad," John Bolton wrote.

More from Europe:

Olaf Scholz challenges Trump for calling Zelenskyy a dictator: 'It is simply false and dangerous to deny Zelenskyy democratic legitimacy' In turn, German FM Baerbock called Trump's words 'completely absurd'.

But Vice President J.D. Vance is pushing back alongside other top Trump admin officials, warning that Zelenskyy will regret this feud and 'badmouthing' President Trump:
 

And Musk too has been pushing back. For example he tweeted out the following list by prominent pro-Trump account @DC_Draino:

Want to know why Trump called Zelenskyy a Dictator?

 

Here are the FACTS:

• He's in year 6 of his 5 year term

• Declared martial law Feb 2022 and has banned elections since then

• Banned 11 political parties

• Passed law in 2022 to censor journalists and combined all news into one gov't station

• Journalists investigating his corruption get conscripted and thrown on the front lines to die

The list ended with the observation that "Even Saddam Hussein held elections!" We should add to this list the ongoing persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Zelenskyy government, merely because it maintains spiritual communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.
 

Meanwhile...
 

* * *

President Trump has absolutely excoriated Zelenskyy in a growing tit-for-tat which is fast turning into an exchange of wide-ranging criticisms and direct insults.

Trump in a fresh Truth Social post has dismissed the Ukrainian leader as a "modestly successful comedian" who essentially tricked the US into spending hundreds of billions for a war that "couldn't be won" and should have never started.

Worse, Trump blasted Zelenskyy as "A Dictator without Elections" given that he,

"refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle'."

Trump added:

"I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died - And so it continues..." and said the Ukrainian leader "better move fast" or he "won't have a country left."

These are by far the harshest words Trump has ever hurled at Zelenskyy yet, even on the campaign trail (where previously he dubbed Zelenskyy as the,

"world's greatest salesman".

Below is the full post which is sure to fuel the flames of controversy further, as European always also express bitterness over Trump's peace talks with Russia...

Image

* * *

How did we get here?

Much as expected, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reeling in the wake of President Trump's Tuesday evening words from Mar-a-Lago wherein he blasted critics of his Ukraine peace initiative, including Zelenskyy himself.

Responding to a reporter's question about Zelenskyy and his European partners demanding a seat at the table in any negotiations with Moscow, Trump had said,

"You've been there for three years. You should've ended it in three years. You should have never started it."

But perhaps the most personally insulting words aimed at Zelenskyy on Tuesday was when Trump ripped him for canceling elections with no movement on democracy or toward making peace with Russia.

"We have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law ... the leader in Ukraine, I hate to say it, but he's down at 4% approval rating... the country has been blown to smithereens... the country looks like a massive demolition site," he said.

Zelenskyy hit back Wednesday, telling a Ukrainian broadcaster that Trump lives in a disinformation bubble.

The Ukrainian leader specifically referenced Trump's words from the day prior repeatedly asserting that the war,

"should never have started."

He said Trump's team needs "more truth" and followed with:

"Unfortunately, President Trump - I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us - unfortunately lives in this disinformation space," Zelenskyy said.

He further suggested (in a clear throwback to the debunked 'Russiagate' narrative of US Democrats) that it is Russia that's feeding Trump falsehoods on the conflict and situation in Ukraine.
 

Via AP

Zelenskyy said:

"As we are talking about 4%, we have seen this disinformation, we understand it's coming from Russia."

Of course, the reality is that it's impossible to know - given that not only is there a war raging chiefly in the country's east, but there's been no elections or polling whatsoever - and Zelensky's term expired back in May 2024.

Last Saturday, Zelenskyy sought to address the growing criticism of the undemocratic situation, saying his country can't hold elections as martial law is still in effect.

"I'm focusing on the survival of our country, and I am doing it really all my term," he said.

"I'm ready to speak about elections if you want," he continued, claiming that "Ukrainians don't want, totally don't want, because they are afraid, because otherwise we will lose the military loan, the war loan, our soldiers will come back home, and (Russian President) Putin will occupy all our territory."

He argued that he has maintained the unity of the country amid the Russian invasion...

"So it's not about myself. It's about the future of our country. The question is to survive to save Ukraine, our independence, our people, (and) our homes.

 

And if somebody doesn't like (it), they can choose another citizenship," he said.

He was also asked about the question of the US taking NATO membership off the table, somewhat shocking European allies this week.

"If we are not in NATO, then as I said, NATO has to be in Ukraine. We will need an army comparable with soldiers of Russia; it's 1.3 or 1.5 million soldiers," he said.

A sampling of what Zelenskyy is so angry about from Tuesday's Trump presser...
 

And as we reported previously, he let his frustration and anger with Trump be known in abruptly cancelling a pre-scheduled state visit to Saudi Arabia.

He stated fact that the US held direct talks with Russia (in Riyahd),

"helped Putin out of his long isolation."

Putin has since acknowledged that a full restoration of relations with Washington is underway, and that talks will continue.

Putin and Trump might meet by month's end, both sides have indicated.
 

* * *

Meanwhile,

given that Washington has always been the real power-broker in Ukraine, the clock is ticking...!