US President Donald Trump caused a stir on Tuesday by saying Ukraine was at fault for the war with Russia, and that Kyiv could have negotiated a deal to avoid conflict.
“You should have never started it,” Trump said, aimed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His comments came after Zelenskyy expressed frustration that he wasn’t included in talks between the US and Russia which are taking place in Saudi Arabia.
At his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump told reporters, “I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all the land, everything, and no one would have been killed.” He implied that the war could have been prevented if Ukraine had taken a different approach. 
The Ukrainian Embassy in Washington has not yet commented on Trump’s remarks.
Meanwhile the US and Russia have agreed to restore embassy staffing, which goes against Washington’s previous stance. Zelenskyy, who is still not part of the talks, said on Tuesday that “Ukraine didn’t know anything about it”.
Trump, who recently said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, has been criticized for his stance which many see as pro-Russian. Last month he told Fox News that Ukraine should not have resisted the Russian invasion in 2022.
When asked if Ukraine would need to hold new elections as part of the peace process, Trump said it was necessary for legitimacy, “That’s not a Russia thing. That’s coming from me and many other countries”.
Ukraine last had presidential elections in 2019.
