U.S. President Donald Trump has accused his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy of prolonging the war with Russia and taking billions of dollars from America.
Trump also falsely accused Zelenskyy of being a dictator who is refusing to hold elections.
Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump is living in a “disinformation bubble”.
What has led to this war of words?
Russia's invasion
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
This week marks three years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
The UN estimates around 12,500 civilians have died since the outbreak of war.
It’s unclear how many casualties have occurred on the battlefield as neither Russia nor Ukraine publish these details.
US support
The U.S. has given Ukraine about $US183 billion ($AU288 billion) in humanitarian and military aid since Russia’s invasion.
Under former President Joe Biden, America supported Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russia.
The new Trump administration has changed the U.S’ approach.
For example, senior officials have said the U.S. will no longer support Ukraine entering the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), a powerful regional alliance.
Following a phone call, Trump has agreed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It will be the first meeting between American and Russian leaders since the war began in 2022.
The most senior U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov earlier this week in Saudi Arabia. No Ukrainian officials were present.
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In response, Zelenskyy cancelled an upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.
Trump post
This week, Trump gave a press conference where he appeared to mock Ukraine for feeling shut out of the Saudi Arabia talks.
Overnight, Trump scaled up his criticism in a post to his social media network Truth Social.
The post falsely claimed Zelenskyy is a “dictator without elections”.
A presidential election was scheduled for 2024, but did not go ahead because the country is under military law for the duration of the war.
Trump also claimed the U.S. had spent $US350 billion on supporting Ukraine’s war against Russia — double the official estimates.
He referred to the flow of U.S. funds as a “gravy train”.
Trump also inaccurately claimed Ukraine was partly responsible for starting the war.
“I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job,” he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine partly based on Putin’s belief that NATO’s expansion represents a direct threat to Russian security.
Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump is living in a “disinformation bubble”.
Zelenskyy said: “[U.S. officials] are letting Putin out of isolation and I think Putin and Russia are really happy because they are involved in discussions”.
He reiterated that Ukraine respected Trump and America.
