Donald Trump’s eldest son has lashed out at Vladimir Zelensky, calling the Ukrainian leader’s criticism of the Republican presidential ticket “disgraceful.”
Donald Trump Jr. was reacting to an interview Zelensky gave to the New Yorker magazine on Monday before flying to the US. The Ukrainian leader described Trump’s running mate – Ohio Senator J.D. Vance – as being “too radical” on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and suggested that Donald Trump himself “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”
Vance has argued that the conflict is not of major importance to US interests, and that Kiev will have to compromise with Russia to resolve the hostilities. Trump has repeatedly claimed he could end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours, if he returns to the White House.
”So a foreign leader who has received billions of dollars in funding from American taxpayers, comes to our country and has the nerve to attack the GOP ticket for President? And he does this right after a pro-Ukraine zealot tried to assassinate my father? Disgraceful!” Trump Jr. wrote in a post on X.
His remarks appeared to reference Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old identified by the US media as the suspect in an attempt to shoot Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida earlier this month. He is an outspoken supporter of Ukraine and a convicted felon who gave multiple interviews to Western press reporting from Kiev.
Zelensky is visiting the US to attend the UN and promote his ‘victory plan’, a supposed roadmap for defeating Russia with Western help. He is set to present it to President Joe Biden and the two main presidential candidates – Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, gave the Ukrainian guest a tour of a munitions plant outside Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Monday, where he signed artillery shells due to be sent to Ukrainian troops.
Moscow considers the Ukraine conflict to be a US-triggered proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainian soldiers are being used as ‘cannon fodder’ with the complicity of their government.