Zelenskyy blocks Trump’s Truth Social network across Ukraine

Multiple reports on social media say US President Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, has been shut down in Ukraine. The app’s countrywide block comes on the backdrop of Trump calling Ukrainian President Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections.”

Through a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Donald Trump took a few digs at Zelenskyy, accusing him of “mismanaging” the war with Russia. 

The latter then fired back at Trump in a news interview with reporters, saying he was falling for Russian “disinformation.” This made the White House more frustrated, and the POTUS did not hold back during his speech at a Saudi-backed investment event in Florida, where he criticized Ukraine for using billions of dollars from American aid programs to fight in a “war that couldn’t be won.”

In what seems to be a retaliation, Zelenskyy and his officials have reportedly blocked access to Trump’s Truth Social platform within Ukraine.

Trump and Zelenskyy: A word for word battle

Speaking at the Florida event, Trump claimed Zelenskyy had manipulated US President Joe Biden to help him fight in an unnecessary war for years. “The only thing Zelenskyy was really good at was playing Joe Biden like a fiddle,” the US CIC told the audience. 

He accused the Ukrainian leader of failing to hold elections after prematurely imposing martial law despite his term officially ending in May 2024. Under martial law, Ukraine suspended elections due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, which the Trump administration insists is an undemocratic move.

“He refuses to have elections. He’s low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high when every city is being demolished?” 

During his interview yesterday, Zelenskyy dismissed Trump’s accusations, saying the US leader was operating in a “disinformation space” shaped by Moscow. 

“We are seeing a lot of disinformation, especially the 4% opinion poll, and it’s coming from Russia,” Zelenskyy said in Kyiv on Wednesday. “With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader… he is living in this disinformation space.”

Zelenskyy argued that US-Russia negotiations, from which Ukraine and the EU are supposedly excluded, are somewhat legitimizing Russia’s invasion of his country. He also accused America of helping Russian President Vladimir Putin “break out of years of isolation.”

President Trump unbothered by critics

Some European leaders are of the opinion that Trump went too far by calling Zelenskyy a dictator. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called his statements “absurd,” saying Trump was distorting the reality of dictatorship. 

“If you look at the real world instead of just firing off a tweet, then you know who in Europe has to live in the conditions of a dictatorship: people in Russia, people in Belarus,” she told German broadcaster ZDF.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk also denounced the US President’s sentiments, telling the BBC that Russia was “popping champagne” in celebration because he supports their cause. 

“Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a completely legitimate president,” Yatsenyuk said. “We cannot hold elections under martial law.”

At a news conference in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, he blamed Ukraine for the war, implying that Kyiv could have avoided conflict by negotiating earlier. 

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said. “I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat. Well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily.“

Trump and his allies vehemently believe that securing a settlement to end the war is long overdue after years of prolonged conflict. However, the president has yet to provide a deeper scope about the terms of such a deal. 

“I don’t care so much about anything other than I want to stop having millions of people killed.”

GOP leaders, like Trump’s second in command JD Vance, suggested Zelensky miscalculated his prowess by publicly criticizing Trump. 

“The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media… Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance told The Daily Mail.

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