Trump has claimed Ukraine is “in shambles” in a fresh dig at Zelensky who he suggests “doesn’t want to end this war”
Trump took a fresh dig at Zelensky on Truth Social (Image: Getty)
President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Trump of attempting to pressure Ukraine to surrender to Russia as the US president has slammed the country a “shambles”. Tensions between the two world leaders have grown after Trump made a controversial deal with Moscow to import diesel and branded the Ukrainian president “more difficult to deal with than Putin”.
Now, Trump has taken to Truth Social to claim that the US is “in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine“. This week Ukraine has launched a new wave of strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Zelensky has claimed is standing up to the diesel deal he cannot accept.
On Sunday, an oil export terminal and a depot were alight in St Petersburg as Kyiv has launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia. Trump posted on his social media site that he does not “want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table”.
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Tensions have been growing between Zelensky and Trump (Image: Getty)
Trump’s post defended his decision to prevent new sanctions from being placed on Moscow despite criticism. He said of the sanctions: “I can sign it later, or any time that I want!” The post also launched a further attack on Zelensky who he claimed “doesn’t want to end this war”.
The US president continued adding “Zelensky doesn’t care” and “his country is in shambles”. Zelensky told NBC on Sunday that waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin’s war effort, and mark a “historic mistake” for Washington.
He told the outlet: “People want to forget what’s going on. But we can’t give this possibility to forget, or to change reality, or to change the truth.
“We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist. And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”
Later on Sunday, Zelensky posted on social media adding that he had spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner following a meeting between US and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami on October 9, as well as “next steps in diplomacy”.
On Sunday, Russia’s defence military said it had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Ukraine did pause attacks on Russian oil facilities, however Zelensky said Russia had attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Trump’s announcement hence why it had resumed strikes.
It comes as Putin has proposed that he, Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet next month to talk about Ukraine in an attempt to end the four-year conflict. Zelensky would not be involved in these talks.
Sky News viewers fume ‘it should be illegal’ in furious Labour bias row
The complaints followed Yvette Cooper’s appearance on the programme.
Yvette Cooper was interviewed by Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika on Sky News (Image: Sky News)
Sky News was flooded with complaints after Health Secretary Yvette Cooper appeared on the programme on Sunday (October 18). Cooper, who is married to Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls, discussed various issues as she was interviewed by Ayesha Hazarika. Hazarika questioned the Labour politician about the current investigation into whether the NHS records of a man killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park last week were accessed inappropriately. They also spoke about the war in Ukraine, with the politician revealing that the government has taken a “different view” to the crisis than that of US President Donald Trump.
But it was the Sky News Sunday Morning presenter that sparked outrage, as Hazarika is a Labour peer.
One argued that it should be “illegal” for someone working for a political party to be interviewed by another who openly supports that party.
Others believe that politicians should not be permitted to pursue careers in broadcast journalism, as it undermines impartiality.
Additional viewers were confused by Cooper addressing Hazarika as a “journalist”.
“This is mental. It is completely and utterly mental. This should literally be illegal. It is not unreasonable to ban politicians from being broadcast journalists FFS,” one fumed on X.
The bias accusations continued, as another said: “It’s a joke. Nobody from either House should be presenting news/politics on any channel, go do your own podcast if you must.”
A third added: “She’s a Labour peer and should not be interviewing her!! Typical mainstream drivel.”
A fourth weighed in: “Ayesha is a journalist? Which paper or news outlet did she do her apprenticeship or grad scheme on? Where did she do her NCTJ, her undergrad or post grad degree or qualification? I know she has a law degree & did a comedy course but the journalism training must have passed me by.”
Someone else claimed: “If this was a Tory MP being interviewed by a Tory peer on GB News, there would be outrage of impartiality from everyone.”
During the interview, Cooper said people “need to be sacked” if patient records were accessed wrongly. William Chapman was mauled to death last week after he jumped into a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Shortly after, Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust said there may have been two separate incidents involving two members of staff who accessed, or attempted to access, medical information “without a legitimate reason to do so” following the incident.
Cooper said: “I take this extremely seriously. I know there’s a specific investigation going into that case, but we just need to be absolutely clear.
“No member of NHS staff should be accessing records that they do not need to see for medical care and reasons, simply for something to do with voyeurism or what is in the news, or any of that kind of reason.”
She added: “We have to have firm action against these people. Should be if there are breaches, then people actually need to be sacked.”