{"id":242623,"date":"2025-02-19T22:41:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T22:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/trump-falsely-suggests-ukraine-is-to-blame-for-the-war-what-to-know\/"},"modified":"2025-02-19T22:41:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T22:41:05","slug":"trump-falsely-suggests-ukraine-is-to-blame-for-the-war-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/19\/trump-falsely-suggests-ukraine-is-to-blame-for-the-war-what-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Falsely Suggests Ukraine Is to Blame for the War: What to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19trump-ukraine-explainer-zfmq\/19trump-ukraine-explainer-zfmq-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Trump Falsely Suggests Ukraine Is to Blame for the War: What to Know\" title=\"Trump Falsely Suggests Ukraine Is to Blame for the War: What to Know\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In comments that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/us\/politics\/trump-russia-putin.html\" title=\"\">stunned America\u2019s allies<\/a> in Europe and angered Ukraine\u2019s government, President Trump on Tuesday appeared to blame Ukraine\u2019s leaders for Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He also suggested that they do not deserve a seat at the table for the peace talks that he has initiated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYou should have never started it,\u201d Mr. Trump <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/us\/politics\/trump-russia-putin.html\" title=\"\">said<\/a>, referring to Ukraine\u2019s leaders. \u201cYou could have made a deal.\u201d He followed up on Wednesday in a post on <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/114031332924234939\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">social media<\/a>, calling Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a \u201cdictator without elections&#8221; and saying he had \u201cdone a terrible job\u201d in office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s a look at how the war began, the state of the peace talks and Ukraine\u2019s election record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-9238889\">What caused the war in Ukraine?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There is no doubt that Russia started the war by invading Ukraine. Russian troops stormed over the border almost exactly three years ago, with the explicit aim of toppling the pro-Western government of Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv, the capital. Russia\u2019s military attacked from the east and north, including from Belarus, as well as from the Russian-occupied southern province of Crimea. That attack started the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Leaders around the world, including former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., denounced Russia\u2019s invasion as an act of unprovoked aggression against a sovereign state, and the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Russia\u2019s immediate withdrawal. Since then, Russian firepower has leveled whole cities and killed more than 12,000 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ukraine.un.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-01\/Ukraine%20-%20protection%20of%20civilians%20in%20armed%20conflict%20%28December%20%202024%29_ENG_0.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ukrainian civilians,<\/a> according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have also been <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/23\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-soldiers-loss.html\" title=\"\">killed and wounded<\/a>, and Russian soldiers have committed a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/12\/22\/video\/russia-ukraine-bucha-massacre-takeaways.html\" title=\"\">series of atrocities<\/a>, not least <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2022\/12\/21\/world\/europe\/bucha-ukraine-massacre-victims.html\" title=\"\">in the city of Bucha<\/a>, north of Kyiv. The Kremlin has said its soldiers do not commit war crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The International Criminal Court has also accused Mr. Putin of war crimes in Ukraine and issued a warrant for his arrest, along with another senior Russian official. Last year it also issued warrants for the arrest of two Russian commanders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Putin and the Kremlin have referred to the invasion as a \u201cspecial military operation,\u201d avoiding the term \u201cwar,\u201d and he has said he sought to demilitarize but not occupy Ukraine. He put forward several explanations for the move, saying that in part he was acting to protect civilians in Ukraine\u2019s east.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He also characterized the invasion as a last-ditch effort to thwart what he called the West\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/23\/world\/europe\/putin-announces-a-military-operation-in-ukraine-as-the-un-security-council-pleads-with-him-to-pull-back.html\" title=\"\">expansion<\/a> toward Russia\u2019s borders. The enlargement of the NATO military alliance to incorporate countries in Eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War, he claimed, was effectively a plot to destroy Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And Mr. Putin said that Russia, and specifically the Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/21\/world\/europe\/putin-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">created modern Ukraine<\/a>, a position historians <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/18\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-timeline.html\" title=\"\">deride as false<\/a>. Ukrainians voted in 1991 in a democratic referendum to leave the Soviet Union. Mr. Putin also said that the invasion aimed to demilitarize Ukraine and combat \u201cNazis,\u201d an apparent reference to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/17\/world\/europe\/ukraine-putin-nazis.html\" title=\"\">far-right parties<\/a> and elements of the Ukrainian Army. Far-right parties won about 2 percent of the vote in the country\u2019s 2019 election. Mr. Zelensky, who is Jewish, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.president.gov.ua\/news\/volodimir-zelenskij-pidpisav-zakon-pro-zapobigannya-ta-proti-70973\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">signed a law<\/a> several months before the invasion combating antisemitism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a speech on the war\u2019s first day, Mr. Zelensky vowed that his country would resist Russian aggression and framed Moscow\u2019s invasion as an attack on freedom itself. \u201cPutin began a war against Ukraine, and against the entire democratic world,\u201d he said. Since then, Mr. Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine stood as Europe\u2019s first line of defense against Russian encroachment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Before the full-scale invasion, Russia seized the Ukrainian province of Crimea, which it annexed illegally in 2014, and also took territory in the eastern Donbas region, including the provincial capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2e45a1eb\">What is happening on the battlefield?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In all, Russia now occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, but so far it has failed in its key objectives of breaking Ukraine\u2019s military and securing Kyiv. The fighting is largely confined to a front line in the east and south of the country, with Russian forces creeping forward amid heavy losses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last August, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the Russian region of Kursk, where Russian forces assisted by soldiers from North Korea have been fighting back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Military experts say that in the immediate term, Ukraine has little chance of recapturing its lost territory, particularly if the United States slows or stops the flow of military aid.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5933fef6\">What has happened in the peace talks so far?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Representatives of Ukraine and Russia held talks in the weeks after the start of the war in 2022 but failed to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/06\/15\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-deal.html\" title=\"\">reach a cease-fire agreement<\/a>. Since then, Ukraine has tried to gain international support for its own 10-point <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/13\/world\/europe\/trump-ukraine-russia-peace.html\" title=\"\">Peace Formula<\/a>, which demands a full withdrawal of Russian forces, the prosecution of war crimes and the payment of reparations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The prospect of peace talks, however, has gathered pace since President Trump\u2019s inauguration last month. Mr. Trump held a lengthy call with Mr. Putin last week, which blindsided Ukraine\u2019s government and allies in Europe and suggested that the two men intended to negotiate Ukraine\u2019s fate directly without their involvement, a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/13\/world\/europe\/putin-trump-call-russia-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">priority for the Kremlin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a major change from former President Biden\u2019s policy that Ukraine would decide whether to make concessions in exchange for peace, the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/12\/world\/europe\/ukraine-war-hegseth-nato.html\" title=\"\">said<\/a> that it was unrealistic for Ukraine to regain the territory it held before Russia\u2019s 2014 invasion, and that Mr. Trump did not support Ukraine\u2019s entry into NATO. In a further blow to Ukraine, Mr. Hegseth said that after a peace deal, the responsibility for guaranteeing the country\u2019s security would fall mainly on European countries rather than on NATO.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia\u2019s foreign minister, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/world\/europe\/us-russia-saudi-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">agreed to reset<\/a> their countries\u2019 relationship and to work on a peace plan for Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky, who was not invited to the meeting, sharply criticized it and said his country would \u201cnever\u201d accept a peace deal if Ukraine did not have a seat at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5f8439fa\">Why haven\u2019t elections been held in Ukraine?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Kremlin has called Mr. Zelensky an illegitimate leader because his five-year term has elapsed. Elections in Ukraine were suspended under martial law after Russia\u2019s invasion, with frontline towns and cities governed solely by military administrations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump also appeared to cast doubt on Mr. Zelensky\u2019s legitimacy as president on Tuesday, and appeared to use that doubt to justify not inviting the Ukrainian leader to peace talks. \u201cI would say that when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to \u2014 wouldn\u2019t the people of Ukraine have to say, like, you know, it\u2019s been a long time since we had an election?\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cThat\u2019s not a Russia thing. That\u2019s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump also said Mr. Zelensky was \u201cdown at 4 percent in approval rating.\u201d Although Mr. Zelensky\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/23\/world\/europe\/ukraine-zelensky-trump.html\" title=\"\">approval rating<\/a> has fallen from once-lofty heights, it is at around 50 percent in recent polls, not too far from Mr. Trump\u2019s rating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky became president after winning an election in 2019 by a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/21\/world\/europe\/Volodymyr-Zelensky-ukraine-elections.html\" title=\"\">landslide<\/a>. A <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/05\/world\/europe\/ukraine-zelensky-elections-war.html\" title=\"\">fresh election<\/a> was due in 2024, but under the country\u2019s constitution, it cannot be held while martial law is in force. Holding an election would also be a logistical nightmare, as Russian missiles rain down on the country and fighting rages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Election experts say that any vote held during wartime would effectively disenfranchise citizens living in Russian-occupied areas, those who have fled the country as refugees and soldiers in combat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">However, internal political tensions over the use of martial law have been rising, and the mayor of Kyiv is among the officials who have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/30\/world\/europe\/zelensky-klitschko-ukraine-martial-law.html\" title=\"\">accused<\/a> the president\u2019s office of abusing its powers. At the same time, Ukraine\u2019s leaders have been under pressure from their allies over the issue, not least as part of wider efforts to demonstrate good governance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/europe\/trump-zelensky-ukraine-comments.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In comments that stunned America\u2019s allies in Europe and angered Ukraine\u2019s government, President Trump on Tuesday appeared to blame Ukraine\u2019s leaders for Russia\u2019s invasion. He also suggested that they do not deserve a seat at the table for the peace talks that he has initiated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. \u201cYou should have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19trump-ukraine-explainer-zfmq\/19trump-ukraine-explainer-zfmq-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10214,137233,163575,40963,3096,103120,209,202,3433,52,1130,128437,128440,34139,3102,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242623"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242623"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242625,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242623\/revisions\/242625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}