Trump falsely claimed that Zelenskyy’s public approval rating was as low as 4%.
LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hit back at President Donald Trump’s call for the country to hold fresh presidential elections following Tuesday’s historic Russia-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia.
The U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh — to which Ukraine was not invited — represented “an important step forward” toward ending Russia’s three-year-old invasion of its neighbor, according to a State Department readout.
Hours after the talks concluded, Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that Zelenskyy’s public approval rating was “down to 4%,” failing to provide a source for the figure. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly framed Zelenskyy as illegitimate, citing the postponement of the country’s 2024 presidential elections due to martial law.
During a Wednesday press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy challenged Trump’s claim, pointing to respected recent surveys showing him polling consistently above 50% with voters and describing Trump’s assertion as Russian “disinformation.”
“If someone wants to replace me right now, then right now won’t work,” Zelenskyy said. “If we are talking about 4% then we have seen this disinformation, we understand that it comes from Russia. And we have evidence.”
The president said he would conduct opinion polls for trust ratings for world leaders, including Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Zelenskyy said he took Trump’s comments “calmly.”
“As for President Trump, with all due respect to him as a leader of the American people, who we deeply respect and are thankful for all his support, but President Trump, unfortunately, is living in this disinformation space,” Zelenskyy continued.
Hours after the U.S.-Russia discussions concluded with a commitment to continue talks, Russia launched a major missile and drone barrage into Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force reported 167 drones and two Iskander ballistic missiles launched into the country, with 106 intercepted and 56 more lost in flight.
