'Don't Pin This on Me': Zelensky Hits Back at Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused U.S. President Donald Trump of blaming him for Russia’s aggression to divert attention from Iran, rejecting the suggestion that Ukraine was responsible for rising diesel prices in the U.S.

“I think it's wrong and unacceptable that Trump pins Russia's aggression and Russia's killings on me,” Zelensky said.

He argued that the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz was the underlying cause of the price pressure, accusing Trump of making Ukraine and its leadership the target instead.

“I think this is just deflecting the focus away from Iran, from what's happening in the Middle East.”

Dispute Over Air Defense

Zelensky linked his criticism to Washington’s failure to provide air defense missiles that he said Ukraine needed to protect its energy infrastructure.

He said he had asked Trump for the weapons after efforts to secure a halt to attacks on energy facilities failed.

European countries were financing the purchases, he added, but supplies had not arrived despite an agreement.

According to Zelensky, the explanation given to Kyiv was that the missiles could not be supplied because they had been allocated to the Middle East.

He urged Trump to apply the same pressure to Putin that he directed at Ukraine’s president, and questioned why the U.S. leader had not acted on strong sanctions backed by Congress.

Zelensky suggested Trump’s relationship with Putin might explain his approach, while acknowledging that he could only speculate about the reasons.

A Ceasefire As a Concession

Zelensky defended Kyiv’s willingness to stop fighting along existing positions as a substantial concession, pushing back against Trump’s demands for compromise.

“When President Trump says we need to find a compromise, believe me, a ceasefire and sitting down at the negotiating table is a huge compromise.”

He said diplomacy required restraint from Ukraine’s leadership, but that the losses suffered by Ukrainians could not simply be set aside to restore commercial relations with Russia.

Any settlement needed to offer victims a credible prospect of accountability, he argued. Without justice, he warned, grief and anger would persist.

Putin’s Objectives

Zelensky also challenged the argument that a different U.S. president could have permanently prevented the invasion.

While allowing that Trump’s personal relationship with Putin might have delayed a full-scale attack, he said the Russian leader’s objective of occupying Ukraine would have outlasted any American presidency.

He criticized former President Joe Biden’s refusal to impose sanctions before the invasion, saying Kyiv had requested both preventive economic measures and urgent weapons deliveries.

Zelensky acknowledged that he had not expected a full-scale invasion. He said European leaders had received assurances from Putin shortly before the attack that Russia would not invade.

He nevertheless agreed with Trump that the failure to resist Russia’s occupation of Crimea had been a decisive mistake.

A military response then, Zelensky argued, could have demonstrated that further aggression would meet resistance.