Ukrainians don’t like it when foreign leaders tell them what to do – whether they are Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump. Last night, Trump blamed president Volodymyr Zelensky for ‘starting’ the war with Russia and demanded that elections take place in Ukraine if it wants to be involved in the peace negotiations. Trump also expressed his disappointment that Zelensky hadn’t struck a deal with Russia before now, and said that Zelensky only had a ‘4 per cent’ approval rating in Ukraine.
Trump may have been trying to put pressure on Ukraine to make peace faster, but his comments are actually only helping Zelensky secure a second presidential term.
Zelensky’s approval ratings have fallen from their peak of over 90 per cent in March 2022, with war fatigue and domestic missteps both playing their part. Yet, he remains a popular wartime leader. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology put his approval rating at 57 per cent this month.
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