• “I am not responsible for Zelensky,” Trump said.
• Say, “I am not a big fan of the Ukrainian president.”
• Say, “I won’t say he did the best.”

Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not blame Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for his war with Russia, mitigating his earlier criticism of pro-Western leaders as he claimed he could sign a mineral deal with Kiev next Thursday.

Trump repeatedly misrepresented the war that Ukraine began, accusing Zelensky of being responsible for “millions” of deaths this week.

“I don’t let Zelensky take charge of the fact that the war began, but I’m not completely excited by the fact that the war began,” Trump said at the White House along with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“I’m not going to blame him, but I’m talking about it I won’t say he did the best, okay? I’m not a big fan.”

Zelensky earlier this week invited Trump to visit Ukraine to visit the war sabotage in person and responded to the threat from the TV network in an interview with CBS on Sunday.

His invitation comes after a fierce squad at the White House between Ukrainian President Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, which played a role in the media in late February.

“We have been defending Ukraine’s freedoms and we can jointly build a just and lasting peace. We support your efforts,” Meloni told reporters.

The far-right leader has made the European effort abandon the weight of Italy to cover up Ukraine’s defense since the Russian invasion began in early 2022.

Trump added Thursday that an agreement with Ukraine to extract strategic minerals from war countries could be reached next week.

Kiev and Washington signed a deal directly and recently until the conflict between Trump and Zelensky temporarily derailed in February.

“We have a mineral agreement and I think Thursday will be signed next Thursday. Soon. I think they will reach an agreement.

Finance Minister Scott Bessent told AFP that a deal is targeting April 26.