Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 18 that he believes Ukraine should hold new elections, as the country has become a “massive demolition site” under President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime leadership.
Trump’s comments come after U.S. and Russian officials earlier in the day met in Saudi Arabia — without Ukraine — to discuss strategies for ending the full-scale war.
Ukraine should hold elections because Zelensky holds a “4% approval rating,” Trump alleged without evidence while speaking to reporters on Feb. 18.
The claim contradicts recent polling from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, which shows that as of December 2024, 52% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky.
Kremlin propaganda has pushed the narrative that Zelensky is an illegitimate leader, relying on the premise that his first presidential term was originally meant to end on May 20, 2024. The false allegation ignores the fact that the Ukrainian consitution prohibits elections during martial law, which went into effect after Russia launched the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Trump distanced himself from the Russian narrative, claiming that it was his personal opinion that Ukraine should hold elections.
“That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me,” he said.
Trump went on to describe the destruction of Ukraine in exaggerated terms, falsely claiming that the majority of its cities had been “blown to smithereens.”
“I don’t know how anybody even lives there,” he said.
Instead of condemning Russia for bombarding Ukraine in daily attacks over the past three years, Trump laid the blame in part on Zelensky’s government.
“You have leadership now that’s allowed the war to go on,” he said.
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