Trump Blasts Zelensky For Showing Resistance To Potential Land Swap With Russia

President Donald Trump ripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday after Zelensky rejected Trump’s idea of a land swap with Russia to end the war.

Trump told reporters in the White House Briefing Room that he disagrees with Zelensky “very, very severely,” adding that he “was a little bothered” by Zelensky’s resistance to his peace plan.

“I get along with Zelensky, but, you know, I disagree with what he’s done, very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened,” Trump said.

“I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelensky was saying, ‘Well, I have to get constitutional approval.’ I mean, he’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap, because there’ll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody — for the good of Ukraine,” he added. “Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine.”

Zelensky said on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier,” adding, “Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions; they will never work.”

A potential land swap was discussed by President Trump last Friday, just before he revealed plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska at the end of this week. Putin reportedly told Trump envoy Steve Witkoff last week that he would end the war against Ukraine in exchange for the region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas. Russian troops have taken over large swaths of eastern Ukraine, but Ukrainian forces continue to fight back, seeking to push out the Russian invaders.

“Putin, I believe, wants to see peace, and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky wants to see peace,” Trump said at the White House last Friday.

He added that there would be “some swapping” of territories between Russia and Ukraine.

“It’s very complicated, but we’re going to get some back and we’re going to get some switched … to the betterment of both.”

Zelensky was not invited to meet with Trump and Putin in Alaska, but one of Trump’s stipulations for meeting with the Russian president is that Putin would agree to hold talks with Zelensky. Trump has publicly bashed both Zelensky and Putin in the past, with most of his recent criticism focusing on Putin and Russia’s continued targeting of Ukrainian civilian centers.

“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” Trump said on Monday. “Ultimately, I’m going to put the two of them in a room. I’ll be there, or I won’t be there, and I think it’ll get solved.”