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NEW YORK, Feb. 20 — The war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky escalated Wednesday as Trump suggested Ukraine could be sidelined in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
“Zelensky better move fast or he’s not going to have a country left,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, claiming that only his administration could successfully broker peace with Russia.
The warning came after Zelensky criticized the U.S. and Russia for holding negotiations in Riyadh without Ukrainian representation. He insisted that Ukraine would not accept a peace deal reached without its direct involvement.
Zelensky fired back, accusing Trump of “living in a web of disinformation.” Trump, in turn, labeled Zelensky a “dictator without elections.”
With Russia occupying roughly 20% of Ukraine’s territory and Ukraine making only minor territorial gains, a negotiated peace deal is unlikely to restore all of Ukraine’s pre-war borders.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that reverting to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders—including Crimea—was unrealistic and ruled out NATO membership for Ukraine in any foreseeable peace agreement.
Trump previously suggested Ukraine provoked the war—despite Russia’s 2022 invasion. His “dictator” remark references Ukraine’s decision to postpone elections due to the war, extending Zelensky’s term beyond its scheduled end.
As the primary financier of Ukraine’s defense, Trump appears to believe he could unilaterally pressure Kyiv into accepting peace terms negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Riyadh for more than four hours to discuss an end to the war. Both sides reported progress, with Lavrov calling the talks “useful” and Rubio indicating Russia was open to serious negotiations.
One key development was an agreement to restore U.S. and Russian embassies to full operational status after years of reduced diplomatic presence.
Trump also lashed out at European nations for not matching U.S. financial support for Ukraine. “Zelensky talked the United States into spending $350 billion on a war that couldn’t be won,” he wrote, arguing that European nations should contribute equally.
