Donald Trump has ratcheted up his language towards Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him a "dictator" just a day after blaming him for the war Russia is waging against Ukraine.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump has made broad statements about Mr Zelenskyy's performance as a leader, saying he had done a "terrible job", but also reached for personal comments about the Ukraine president's former career.
There has been significant response to the statement, most notably from Mr Zelenskyy himself and European leaders.
We have seen Americans respond too, including those who support Mr Trump's approach as well as those who are alarmed at the extent to which their president is willing to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to publicly admonish Ukraine.
This is a break down of what Mr Trump said in his Truth Social post.
Here is the post exactly as he published it:
There is some speculation Mr Trump's post is in response to comments from Mr Zelenskyy overnight that the US president was living in a "disinformation space" created by Russia.
Now there appears to be a war of words over a real life conflict that has cost thousands of lives.
Here are some key points to note when considering what Mr Trump has said, and to help understand just how significant this language is coming from the president of the United States as the world hangs in this delicate moment.
1. Trump starts by getting personal
Trump: "Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy … "
This is Mr Trump's commentary on Mr Zelenskyy's pre-political life when he was an actor and comedian.
Among other projects, Mr Zelenskyy starred in a series television series about a lovable high school teacher fed up with corrupt politicians who accidentally became president.
Mr Trump's path to presidency also stopped by the silver screen.
However, despite the similar plotlines of their political origin stories, Mr Trump appeared to use Mr Zelenskyy's history to pass judgement on him.
Starting his message on Truth Social with this apparent shade towards Mr Zelenskyy set a tone about the personal and increasingly controversial accusations Mr Trump would then go on to make.
2. Trump claims US has given hundreds of billions more than Europe
Trump: "The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe's money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn't Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe that it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation."
Mr Trump has said repeatedly over the past week that the US got a bad deal out of its funding of Ukraine's defence effort.
He has expressed frustration over his belief the US is giving more overall, but the numbers around support for Ukraine are much more complex than Mr Trump has made out.
The US is the single biggest contributor, but collectively the nations and institutions of Europe have contributed slightly more, according to recent analysis from the Kiel Institute.
In his post today, Mr Trump claimed the US had spent $US200 billion ($315 billion) more than Europe on the effort in Ukraine.
What we can look at is the different types of aid Ukraine is receiving to get a sense of the numbers.
The US outstrips individual European nations several times over, having contributed nearly 120 billion euros, or $US125 billion ($196 billion), according to Kiel Institute analysis released this month.
Analysis from the institute's Ukraine Support Tracker, broke the support down into military, financial and humanitarian aid.
"Europe as a whole has clearly overtaken the US in terms of Ukraine aid," a release from February 14 said.
"In total, Europe has allocated 70 billion euros ($115 billion) in financial and humanitarian aid as well as 62 billion euros ($102 billion) in military aid.
"This compares to 64 billion euros ($105 billion) in military aid from the US as well as 50 billion euros ($82 billion) in financial and humanitarian allocations."
The Kiel Institute analysis of European aid includes contributions from European Union members, European institutions, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The Kiel figures put the total US contribution at $187 billion.
US Ukraine Oversight documents note the Washington contribution to September last year as being $288 billion.
As of September 30, 2024, the US Ukraine response funding totals nearly $US183 billion ($288 billion), with $US124 billion ($195 billion) of that being spent by the Department of Defense, according US Ukraine Oversight.
There is no apparent source for the claim the US has given $US200 billion more than Europe.
Mr Trump also said: "On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is 'missing.'"
It is unclear what Mr Trump is referring to, but on Tuesday, local time, at a press conference in Florida he said this issue had come up during a conversation with Mr Zelenskyy.
"I believe President Zelenskyy said last week that he doesn't know where half of the money is that we gave him," he said.
"We have to equalise with Europe, because Europe has given … a very much smaller percentage than that.
"Where is all the money that's been given? Where is it going? … I've never seen an accounting of it."
3. Trump calls Zelenskyy a 'dictator'
Trump: "He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden "like a fiddle." A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."
Ukraine is under attack from Russia and declared martial law as the war began three years ago.
Mr Zelenskyy's term was due to come to an end last year, but under the Ukrainian constitution, elections are legally suspended while it defends itself.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, some 6.9 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered worldwide since February 2022.
Of those, millions remain outside the country due to the war. It would be nearly impossible for all of those who have been displaced to participate in an election, potentially robbing millions of their right to vote.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Mr Trump calling Mr Zelenskyy "a dictator without elections" was "false and dangerous", German newspaper Spiegel reported.
"It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy his democratic legitimacy," Mr Scholz said.
Yesterday, Mr Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war, and over the past week he has referenced Mr Zelenskyy's polling performance several times and his belief there was a need for an election.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson offered a firm response, saying: "Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections.
"There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945," he said.
"Of course Zelenskyy's ratings are not 4 per cent. They are actually about the same as Trump's.
"Trump's statements are not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action."
Mr Zelenskyy "retains a fairly high level of public trust" — about 57 per cent — according to a report released on Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institution of Sociology.
4. Trump makes signal on Ukraine role in peace talks
Trump: " … we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only "TRUMP," and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the "gravy train" going."
It was a week ago when US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shocked Europe when he said it was "unrealistic" for Ukraine to expect to return to its internationally recognised border and the land it held before 2014, when Russia took Crimea and before its march towards Kyiv three years ago.
That same day Mr Trump announced he'd spoken to Vladimir Putin and negotiations to end the war would begin, with the US leading those talks.
Since then, there has been a nervousness about how involved the US would permit both Ukraine and Europe to be in the process.
Despite some moves by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to insist there would come a time for them both to be at the table, Mr Trump's statement today appears to insist America will handle it.
He says "we are successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia". This language is important.
This war was started by Russia and Vladimir Putin's forces now occupy about 20 per cent of Ukraine and are slowly but steadily gaining more territory in the east, according to Reuters.
Ukraine has fired into Russia and last year moved across the border itself to occupy the Russian town of Sudzha, but Russia is the aggressor.
Mr Trump's line that "only Trump and the Trump Administration" can negotiate with Russia to end the war will do little to reassure Ukraine and Europe they will have a seat at the table when a deal is made about the future of their region.
And today's statement comes after Mr Trump falsely claimed Ukraine started the war.
Mr Johnson said this: "Of course Ukraine didn't start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor."
In terms of negotiations, there is still little indication the Kremlin is serious.
In its assessment of the conflict released Wednesday night, local time, the Institute for the Study of War said: "Many recent Russian statements show that Putin remains uninterested in engaging in good faith negotiations and retains his objective of destroying the Ukrainian state while the Kremlin has offered no public indication that it would materially compromise."
5. Trump's claim about the number of lives lost
Trump: "I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died."
No estimates by any reputable analysis place deaths near the millions.
While exact figures of the number of deaths are unknown, Mr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022.
He has also said that "tens of thousands of civilians" had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but that no exact figures would be available until the war was over.
The most recent data from the Russian Defense Ministry, published in January 2023, pointed to just more than 6,000 military deaths, although reports from US and UK officials put that number significantly higher.
ABC/AP
