President Trump will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday after falsely asserting that Ukraine started the war with Russia and calling him a “dictator without elections.”
President Trump will host President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at the White House on Friday to seal an agreement handing over rare mineral rights to the United States even as the new American administration pursues a separate deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
While Mr. Trump has hosted several world leaders in the month since he took office again, no meeting has been as charged as the one with Mr. Zelensky promises to be. Just last week, Mr. Trump falsely asserted that Ukraine “started” the war with Russia and called Mr. Zelensky a “dictator without elections.”
In fact, it was Russia that started the war in 2014 and mounted a full-scale invasion in 2022. Although Ukrainian elections have been suspended for the past three years under martial law, Mr. Zelensky became president on the back of a landslide election victory in 2019. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, by contrast, is an actual dictator whose elections have been widely dismissed as frauds and who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes.
Mr. Trump sought to smooth over the rift with Mr. Zelensky on Thursday before their meeting at the White House, brushing off a question about whether he still considers the Ukrainian leader a dictator.
“Did I say that?” Mr. Trump asked. “I can’t believe I said that. Next question.”
At a later news conference with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Mr. Trump did not respond to a question about whether he owed Mr. Zelensky an apology for calling him a dictator. “We’re going to have a very good meeting,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for him.”
His sharp language last week about Mr. Zelensky contrasted with his assessment of Mr. Putin, whom he has only praised since winning a second term. Just this week, the president called Mr. Putin “a very smart guy” and “a very cunning person.” He said that he believes that Mr. Putin really wants peace and added on Thursday that “he’ll keep his word” if a deal is reached, despite multiple Russian violations of agreements in the past.