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U.S. President Donald Trump has once again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of helping instigate the war with Russia — just a day after a massive Russian missile strike killed at least 35 civilians and wounded 117 others in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, foreign media reported.
“You don’t start a war against someone 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, casting blame not only on Zelenskyy but also on his predecessor Joe Biden.
“Millions of people are dead because of three people,” Trump said, adding, “Let’s say Putin number one, let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelenskyy.”
The remarks follow Sunday’s deadly missile strike on Sumy, which Ukrainian authorities say was the deadliest attack on civilians so far this year. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it had targeted a gathering of Ukrainian soldiers, adding that 60 were killed, but provided no supporting evidence. Ukrainian officials have strongly denied the claim.
Trump acknowledged the attack was “terrible” and reportedly said he had heard that Russia “made a mistake,” although he did not provide any further details.
His latest comments have seemingly reignited tensions with Kyiv, especially as Zelenskyy continues to press for international support against Russian aggression. In a recent interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Zelenskyy urged Trump to witness the devastation in Ukraine firsthand before engaging in negotiations with Russia.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, and children destroyed or dead,” Zelenskyy had said.
Zelenskyy also rebuked the latest Russian strike, reportedly saying, “It struck right in the heart of the city on Palm Sunday”.
Trump, however, questioned the Ukrainian leader’s judgment, reportedly saying, “When you start a war, you got to know you can win,” and criticized him for “always looking to purchase missiles.”
Relations between Trump and Zelenskyy have remained fraught since Trump returned to office earlier this year. Their February meeting at the White House reportedly ended in a heated exchange, with Trump accusing Zelenskyy of “gambling with World War Three” and scolding him for not pursuing peace talks with Russia earlier.
Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg last week in a five-hour meeting aimed at brokering a long-term resolution to the conflict.
“There is a possibility to reshape the Russian-US relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region, too. Partnerships create stability,” Witkoff told Fox News.
He added that discussions with Russian officials had addressed the fate of five Ukrainian territories currently under Russian control, as well as Moscow’s demand for a Ukraine outside NATO protection — a reference to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.
Trump, meanwhile, has insisted he wants to “stop the killing” and hinted that new plans may be forthcoming.
