Europe’s Leaders Rally Around Zelenskyy After Trump Labels Ukrainian Leader a Dictator

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (R) shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy upon Starmer's arrival for a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 16, 2025. Carl Court/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

European leaders have rallied to the defense of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he was criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19.

In a Feb. 19 Truth Social post that was shared on his X and Instagram accounts, Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” who was doing a “terrible job” and had played his predecessor President Joe Biden “like a fiddle.”

He said the Ukrainian president had “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start.”

The president went on to say that Zelenskyy “will never be able to settle” the war without the United States and Trump.”

He later elaborated on his reasoning for his dressing down of Zelenskyy at a Saudi-backed investment summit in Miami, Florida, accusing the Ukrainians of backing out of a rare earths deal with America.

Trump’s remarks sparked consternation across Europe and the wider West—which has hitherto been, for the most part, uncritical of the government in Kyiv and has largely lavished praise on Zelenskyy—and swiftly rallied to defend him.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Zelenskyy was a “democratically elected leader” and that it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime as the UK did during World War II,” according to Downing Street.

Under normal circumstances, Zelenskyy would have been up for reelection last spring, but Ukrainian law does not allow elections during a state of martial law. The government in Kyiv has extended its martial law status continuously since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote in a post on X that “it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny president Zelenskyy democratic legitimacy.”

“The fact that regular elections cannot be held in the middle of a war is in line with the requirements of the Ukrainian constitution and electoral laws. No one should claim otherwise.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was slightly more diplomatic in his post on the Elon Musk-owned platform, saying that France “stood with Ukraine” but adding, “We share the objective, which is also that of President Donald Trump, to put an end to Russia’s war of aggression, which has been ongoing for nearly three years now.”

Macron went on to outline France’s “three principles for peace,” which included: “Ukraine must always be included, and its rights must be respected. Peace must be lasting and accompanied by robust and credible guarantees. The security concerns of Europeans must be taken into account.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson labeled Trump’s use of the word “dictator” to describe Zelenskyy as “incorrect.”

Speaking to the media in Stockholm, Kristersson said: “President Zelensky is democratically elected. I think nobody wants elections more than Ukraine, because elections would mean that there is peace in Ukraine and that they can run their country again.”

Polish Premier Donald Tusk did not mention Trump by name but wrote on X: “A forced capitulation of Ukraine would mean a capitulation of the whole community of the West. With all the consequences of this fact. And let no-one pretend that they don’t see this.”

Beyond Europe’s borders, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Zelenskyy “sits in office after duly-held elections.” When asked who started the war, Dujarric responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Australia rejected Trump’s assertions about Ukraine.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said that “the war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine’s terms, because the aggressor here is Russia.”

Zelenskyy said Trump was being swayed by disinformation and was undermining efforts to isolate Russia diplomatically.

“We saw this disinformation,” Zelenskyy told reporters at a press conference on Feb. 19. “We understand it comes from Russia.”

He also warned against attempts to remove him from power in a time of war.

“I would like Trump’s team to have more truth, because all of this certainly does not benefit Ukraine. It helps bring [Russian President Vladimir Putin] out of isolation. And I think that Putin and the Russians are very pleased that issues are being discussed with them,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, though not directly addressing Trump’s description of Zelenskyy, said that the U.S. president “understands” the Kremlin’s position.

“He is the first, and so far, in my opinion, the only Western leader who has publicly and loudly said that one of the root causes of the Ukrainian situation was the impudent line of the previous administration to draw Ukraine into NATO,” Lavrov said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was more forthright, saying on X: “If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the U.S. president, I would have laughed out loud. Donald Trump is 200 percent right.”

At the summit in Miami, Trump gave more of his reasoning for lambasting Zelenskyy, accusing him of backing out of a rare earths deal with the United States, telling a crowd at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach: “We had a deal based on rare earth and things, but they broke that deal. They broke it two days ago.”

The president repeated his criticism during a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One as he headed back to Washington, saying that Ukraine “more or less” agreed to a deal on rare earths and that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had visited Ukraine but “was treated rather rudely” as Zelenskyy declined to meet with him.

“He went there to get a document signed and ... he came back empty,” Trump said. “We can make a deal with Russia to stop the killing.”

Reuters, Ryan Morgan, and Emel Akan contributed to this report.