Ukraine didn’t start the war, Pence calls out Trump

Trump brands Ukraine’s Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’
Former U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence has criticised his former boss, President Donald Trump, over the claim that Ukraine started the war with Russia.

Pence, who served as Trump’s deputy from 2016 to 2020, said Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion, which has claimed thousands of lives.

In a post on his X handle on Wednesday, he told Trump that the road to peace must be built on the truth. Pence said: “Mr President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The road to peace must be built on the truth.”

Trump, who doubled down on his attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared to suggest that Zelenskyy started the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy, for his part, had earlier lashed out at Trump over his ongoing negotiations with Russia concerning Ukraine, accusing him of sidelining him. In response, Zelenskyy stated that Trump lives in a “disinformation space” regarding peace talks with Russia.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should’ve ended it after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal,” Trump said.

Again, yesterday, Trump called Zelensky a “dictator”, widening a personal rift with major implications for efforts to end the conflict triggered by Russia’s invasion.

The United States had provided funding and arms to Ukraine, but in an abrupt policy shift since coming to power, Mr Trump has opened talks with Moscow.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform of the Ukrainian leader,
whose five-year term expired in 2024. Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime.