Trump calls Zelensky a 'dictator' as he hits back at 'disinformation' criticism

Summary

Donald Trump launches a fresh attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a "dictator" and saying he has done a "terrible job"
Trump also accuses Zelensky of "refusing to have elections" - BBC Verify, fact-checking the claim, says Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia invaded in February 2022, meaning elections are suspended
Zelensky earlier accused the US president of "living in a disinformation space" created by Russia following US-Moscow talks in Saudi Arabia, from which Kyiv was excluded
Asked by the BBC how he would respond to Ukrainians who felt "betrayed" over not having a seat at the table, Trump said Ukraine "could have made a deal" earlier
Russian President Vladimir Putin later said "nobody is excluding Ukraine" from talks on ending the war

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Zelensky says Trump 'living in disinformation space' created by Russia

Live Reporting

Edited by Jacqueline Howard

Macron calls Trump and Zelensky about talkspublished at 05:49 Greenwich Mean Time 18 February
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Emmanuel Macron with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
French President Emmanuel Macron says he has has spoken to both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky to brief them about yesterday's gathering of European leaders in Paris.
The UK and EU leaders met for an emergency summit on Ukraine yesterday. We don't know what was discussed - but reports suggest that countries were divided on whether Europe would send peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal.
Writing on X late on Monday,, external Macron says a peace deal "must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians".
"We will work on this together with all Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians," says Macron. "This is the key."
The White House described it as a friendly call with Macron, while Zelensky said they agreed any security guarantees for Ukraine must be "robust and reliable".
Who, what and where? A guide to the talkspublished at 05:19 Greenwich Mean Time 18 February
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, left, and national security adviser Mike Waltz
US and Russian officials will meet each other in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, this morning.
On the American side, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are part of the negotiating team.
Witkoff is a billionaire real estate developer and Trump's personal friend, and has already been centre stage for international talks since Trump came to power - earlier this month he met Putin over a separate issue.
For the Russians, the officials include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov. Both Lavrov and Ushakov are highly experienced diplomats who have spent years helping Putin implement Russian foreign policy.
Yesterday, Russia emphasised the talks were "strictly bilateral", with no Ukraine or European presence. The talks also come ahead of a possible future meeting between Trump and Putin in Saudi Arabia.
'Test of strength' as Starmer to meet Trump over Ukrainepublished at 05:00 Greenwich Mean Time 18 February
As the UK wakes up, most of the newspaper front pages focus on the latest in the Ukraine war talks.
The Guardian, the Times and the Mirror all focus on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the US to offer security guarantees to Ukraine.
Starmer says he would consider deploying UK troops to Ukraine in the event of a lasting peace deal - but that "there must be a US backstop, because a US guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again".
But the Daily Telegraph says the UK is at odds with some European leaders over sending troops to Ukraine - with Germany particularly reluctant. It quotes Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, as saying the idea is "completely premature" and "highly inappropriate", and that he is "a little irritated".
Read the full newspaper review.
US and Russia to start talks on Ukraine warpublished at 04:56 Greenwich Mean Time 18 February
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with a Saudi government minister as he arrived in Riyadh yesterday
Good morning and welcome to what is set to be an intense day of diplomacy.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia this morning, to hold talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
It's the most significant meeting between the two sides since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - and comes after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agreed to begin negotiations to end the war last week.
According to the US, the meeting will be a "first step" towards seeing whether Moscow is "serious" about talks to end the war in Ukraine - but will not amount to the start of negotiations. Russia, meanwhile, says the talks would focus on restoring US-Russian relations.
But, crucially, Ukraine has not been invited - and President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the talks, saying they won't recognise any peace deal unless Ukraine is included.
Also not there are any European officials. The UK and EU leaders held their own emergency talks in Paris yesterday and have been clear they feel no decisions should be made without their input.