Trump’s savage attack on Zelenskyy shaped by pro-Russian coterie

<p>‘Kremlin whisperers’ have the president’s ear and dissenters are few – but a thin skin and self-interest are also at play</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump’s </a>tarring of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/volodymyr-zelenskiy">Volodymyr Zelenskyy</a> as a “dictator” who is to blame for the war with Russia, plunging Ukraine into a Darwinian struggle for its very existence, landed like a bombshell on the diplomatic landscape. But it did not come out of nowhere.</p><p>The US president has left the already badly frayed western alliance in disarray with a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114031332924234939">devastating social media attack</a> on his Ukrainian counterpart, just hours after he had already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/19/trump-ukraine-war-russia-could-have-made-a-deal">implicitly blamed Kyiv</a> for Russia’s invasion.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/20/trump-zelenskyy-putin-ukraine-russia">Continue reading...</a>