France says it does not understand why Trump blames Ukraine for war

PARIS – France does not understand why US President Donald Trump has suggested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to blame for Russia’s invasion of his country and the resulting war, a French government spokeswoman said on Feb 19.

“We don’t understand the logic very well,” Ms Sophie Primas told reporters, describing “the diverse, varied and often incomprehensible comments by President Trump”.

She said Mr Trump has made a number of comments on Ukraine over the past few days without consulting his European allies.

Mr Trump, in comments to reporters on Feb 18, said: “You’ve been there for three years”.

He was referring to concerns that Ukraine was excluded from talks between Russia and the United States.

“You should’ve never started it. You could have made a deal,” he added.

Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II began in 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin

ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Ukraine and its allies in Europe were stunned by the decision by Washington and Moscow to hold

peace talks in Saudi Arabia this week.

Ukraine has said it

will not accept a deal imposed on it without its consent,

which European leaders have echoed, while Russia has ruled out conceding land it has won.

French President Emmanuel Macron was set to have

an informal meeting on Ukraine with some European leaders and Nato ally Canada,

following a similar meeting with Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain, the EU, Denmark and the Netherlands on Feb 17.

Ahead of the Feb 19 talks, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, while there was not complete agreement in the European Union on how to move forward, countries have nevertheless managed to accomplish a lot within the EU framework.

He said it is important for backers of Ukraine to do everything possible to put Kyiv in a strong position.

Sounding a note of caution, he added: “Everyone seems to believe that Russia wants to negotiate peace. I don’t feel sure at all on that point. So we need to keep a cool head and continue to support Ukraine.” REUTERS