Trump blames Zelenskyy for starting war in Ukraine day after deadly Russian attack

Donald Trump said blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war in Ukraine. Credit: AP

Donald Trump has blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war in Ukraine, a day after a Russian missile strike killed 34 people in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy.

The US president said the Ukrainian leader shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and former US president Joe Biden, saying all three were to blame for the "millions of people" killed.

Speaking in the White House's Oval Office during a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on Monday, Trump questioned Zelenskyy's competence and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia, which is "20 times" its size.

Asked about Zelenskyy's offer to buy more air defence missile systems from the US, Trump replied: "When you start a war you've got to know that you can win the war.

"You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles."

Russia's attack on Sunday in northern Ukraine killed at least 34 people, including one child, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement. They said a further 117 people were injured, including seven children.

Asked about Russia's attack and his previous depiction of the missile strike as a "mistake," Trump blamed Biden and Zelenskyy saying the mistake was "letting the war happen".

Doubling down on these comments, Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, added: "If Biden were competent and if Zelenskyy were competent...

"That war should've never been allowed to happen."

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The US president did attribute some blame to the Russian president, however, referencing Putin when he said: "I'm not saying anybody's an angel.

"Biden could've stopped it and Zelenskyy could've stopped it and Putin should've never started it," the president continued.

"Everybody's to blame."

The US president made the comments in a meeting with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele. Credit: AP

Describing the conflict in Ukraine as "Biden's war", Trump also repeated his false claims of a rigged 2020 election saying the war would never have started if the election hadn't been fixed.

Russia on Monday claimed its deadly missile attack had targeted a gathering of Ukrainian troops, while European leaders condemned the attack as a war crime.

Zelenskyy called for a global response to the attack, saying: "Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves."

Sunday's attack on Sumy, Ukraine left 34 dead. Credit: AP

Sunday's strike was the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week, following a deadly missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on April 4 that killed some 20 people, including nine children.

The strike comes less than a day after Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year-old war.

The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.

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