One of the most repeated promises by Donald Trump during the last presidential campaign, was that once he returned to the White House, the war in Ukraine would end. It has been almost three months since the Republican was sworn in at Congress, and the armed conflict in Eastern Europe had one of the deadliest days of the year this Sunday with 35 dead and over 100 wounded after missiles launched by Russia hit the Ukrainian city of Sumy.
According to Ukrainian authorities, this “Palm Sunday” two ballistic missiles struck the heart of the city that is just 30 kilometers from the border with Russia.
What was Trump’s reaction to the Russian attack?
During a conference in the Oval Office this Monday, April 7th, President Donald Trump aired all his frustration and blamed the leaders of Ukraine and Russia for the ongoing war conflict. In his statements, he also attacked former President Joe Biden, claiming that the war would not have erupted if he had been in power.
Trump questioned Volodimir Zelensky’s management capacity and referred to Putin as one of the direct causes of the conflict. "That is a war that should never have been allowed to start, and Biden could have stopped it, and Zelensky could have stopped it, and Putin should never have started it," he stated. He then added: "Everyone is to blame."
But his harshest attacks were against the Ukrainian president: “If Biden were competent and if Zelensky were competent —and I don’t know if he is, we had a tough session with this guy—, he just kept asking for more and more.”
A month ago, the United States tried to mediate for a 30-day total ceasefire and President Trump had a phone conversation with Putin, but the intensity of the war has not decreased.
Through social media, Trump blamed Biden and Zelensky for the war, not Russia
Trump’s afternoon statements are in line with a much harsher post in the morning through his Truth Social network, where he said, “The war between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine. I just got here and, for four years during my term, I had no problem in preventing it from happening.”
And then the President of the United States added: “President Zelensky and crooked Joe Biden did an absolutely horrible job in allowing this travesty to begin. There were so many ways of preventing it from ever starting. But that is the past. Now we have to get it to stop, and fast!”
In that comment, Trump did not blame Putin for the war.
The criticisms towards Zelensky come shortly after a meeting in the Oval Office where they both had a heated discussion, with Trump accusing the Ukrainian leader of taking advantage of American support.
Zelensky responds and diplomatic tensions worsen
Several members of Trump’s political circle also commented on the attack. Keith Kellogg, his special envoy for Ukraine, posted on X: “Russia’s action crosses any line of decency.” He added that, as a former military leader, he knows the standards of precision in attacks, and emphasized that “this is wrong. That’s why President Trump is working hard to end this war.”
In an interview for the CBS 60 Minutes program aired on Sunday, Zelensky accused Vice President JD Vance of trying to justify the Russian invasion. Additionally, he urged Vance, as well as Trump, to visit Ukraine to directly observe the devastation of the conflict. “You think you understand what is happening here. Okay, we respect your position... But, please, before making any decisions or negotiation approaches, come see the people, civilians, soldiers, hospitals, churches, destroyed or dead children,” he expressed.
On Monday, Vance replied through his spokesperson, Taylor Van Kirk, who told Politico that Zelenskyy’s words were “counterproductive to the goal of achieving peace for his country.” Van Kirk added that Vance “has repeatedly said that this war was never justified from the start and is a product of Joe Biden’s weakness and incompetence.”