dpa
Washington
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of refusing to strike a deal with Moscow to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal,” Trump said at a campaign rally in North Carolina. “So many dead people, any deal, even the worst deal, would have been better than what we have right now,” the former US president said.
“You have a country that has been obliterated, not possible to be rebuilt,” Trump continued, referring to the situation in Ukraine. “It will take hundreds of years to rebuild it. There’s not enough money to rebuild it if the whole world got together.” Trump criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their ongoing support of Ukraine, indicating he would end US aid to the country if re-elected in the US presidential election on November 5. “They’re not going to be satisfied until they send American kids,” Trump claimed, “we’re not going to have our soldiers die across the ocean,” he said.
Biden was set to receive Zelensky at the White House on Thursday. The Ukrainian leader intends to pitch his “victory plan” for defeating Russia. He is also set to meet lawmakers in the US Congress.
Zelensky had also planned to meet with Trump during his time in the US. However, news website Politico reported that such a meeting was now considered unlikely. Biden was originally due to face Trump in the November presidential election but dropped his bid for a second term as his age and mental capabilities came under growing scrutiny.
