Donald Trump dwelling in ‘disinformation bubble’ says Zelensky after President blames Ukraine for warfare

Donald Trump is living in a “disinformation bubble”, Volodymyr Zelensky has warned after the US President accused Ukraine of starting the war.

Trump sparked alarm by saying Mr Zelensky “could have made a deal” amid growing signs he will capitulate to bloodthirsty tyrant Vladimir Putin. He also questioned whether the Ukrainian President should be in charge after freezing him out of peace negotitations.

Responding to the remarks, Mr Zelensky said: “Unfortunately, President Trump, with all due respect for him as the leader of a nation that we respect greatly … is living in this disinformation bubble.”

He warned there is a “misinformation circle around President Trump” – saying representatives from the Hungarian and Slovak governments could be feeding him wrong info. He went on: “This is all concerning. Everything they are doing is to make sure that Ukraine is weak.”

It came after Trump launched a vicious tirade against the Ukrainian President – yet another indication he is about to sell the country out. After Mr Zelensky voiced his anger at being excluded from peace talks, Trump responded: “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

More than 46,000 Ukrainian troops have died defending the country since Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion in 2022. Talks between the US and Russia opened in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday – with Ukraine and the rest of Europe excluded.

Mr Zelensky has said he will not accept a deal that is forced on him. The cowardly Trump administration has already said that Ukrainian membership of defence bloc NATO and a return to 2014 borders is “unrealistic” – before negotiations even started.

Trump and Putin have already said they plan to visit each other’s countries, but no date has yet been set for that. The talks in Saudia Arabia – led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – were convened after Trump and Putin spoke on the phone last week.

Lavrov said he believes the US “has stated to better understand our position.” Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace posted on Twitter/X that the White House was spreading “fake news” about Ukraine.

He wrote: “I think what President Trump is learning is that if you have no skin in the game you don’t get to decide the fate of Ukraine. I am sure they all enjoyed their 4 hour talks today but they probably shouldn’t have wasted their time.”

In an extraordinary tirade about Mr Zelensky’s exclusion, Trump appeared to question whether he has the right to be there as leader. He claimed that the Ukrainian President has just a 4% approval rating in his country.

Leaving reporters in no doubt whose side he is on, Trump ranted: “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we essentially have martial law,” he said. “Where the leader in the Ukraine, I hate to say it, he is down at 4% approval rating and the country has been blown to smithereens. Most of the cities are lying on their sides, buildings have collapsed it looks like a massive demolition site.”

It comes less than 24 hours after key Trump aide Elon Musk fawned over the Russian delegation arriving for talks in Riyad. He wrote: “This is what competent leadership looks like.”

And in an interview with Associated Press, Rubio suggested that it was in America’s interests to cozy up to Russia. He said ending the war in Ukraine could “unlock the door” for “incredible opportunities” to partner with the Russians.

He said these “hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term”. And Lavrov said: “I have reason to believe that the American side has started to better understand our position.”

Former Australian PM Tony Abbott criticised Trump, saying the deal risks being a “sellout”. He told Times Radio: “Let’s be very clear. Putin started this war. Russia started this war.

“And anyone who thinks otherwise is living in fantasy land. Now obviously we want peace But it can’t just be a surrender to vicious naked aggression.”

It comes after Keir Starmer warned that peace in Ukraine will only hold with a US security guarantee. After scrambling to an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, he said he would tell Trump next week that Putin will strike again without US support.

Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson told Times Radio on Wednesday morning: “We’ve also been very clear to say that Ukraine has to be part of any negotiations and yesterday the (US) secretary of state Marco Rubio was saying that European countries and of course Ukraine has to be part of any negotiations. So I think the British position on this is very clear.”

Asked whether the UK was heading for a collision with the US, she told LBC: “I think it is really early days at the moment as to what is happening.” She added: “I think there’s a long way to go on this, but I think the Prime Minister has been really clear that we will of course step up and do what we can to secure the security of Europe.”

On Monday the Prime Minister said: “Europe must play its role, and I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.

“But there must be a US backstop, because a US security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.”