Trump: I don't hold Zelenskyy responsible for war

US President Donald Trump has contradicted his earlier statements that his counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy is responsible for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Trump at the White House during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on 17 April, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Trump said that he doesn't "hold Zelenskyy responsible [for the war] but I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started".

He explained this by saying that the war in Ukraine would never have started if he had been president and it didn't during his first term in office.

"So I'm not happy with him [Zelenskyy], and I'm not happy with anybody involved," Trump stated.

Now, he noted, he is trying to make Russian leader Vladimir Putin "stop because, as you know, Russia is a lot bigger. It's a bigger military force. And, if you're smart, you don't go involved and get involved in wars".

"You can blame the man who was sitting in this seat, Biden. He didn't know what the hell was going on, but I can guarantee that – and everybody agrees to it – if I were president, that war wouldn't have taken place," Trump added.

He then said that he is "not blaming him", adding that he wouldn’t say "he's done the greatest job" and is not a "big fan" of him. However, it was unclear whether these comments were directed at Biden or Zelenskyy.

Background: 

• At the beginning of the week, Trump said that both his predecessor Biden and Zelenskyy had "allowed" Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine to begin.
• On the same day, he placed the responsibility for the war on Putin, Biden and Zelenskyy.

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