Zelensky undermines Trump more than Iran and Cuba do – Medvedev

The Ukrainian leader has worked against the US president’s interests and pocketed American taxpayer money, the senior Russian official has said

Vladimir Zelensky’s disregard for Donald Trump is doing more damage to the US president’s interests than Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela do combined, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday.

Ukraine’s leader has publicly backed Trump’s predecessor and former political rival, Joe Biden, rejected US proposals to settle the Ukraine conflict and worked to turn European leaders against Trump, Medvedev alleged.

“The Kiev scumbag regularly spits straight in the face of the US president, ignoring his demands and turning influential Americans (and not-so-influential Europeans) against him,” Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a Telegram post. 

He said that Zelensky “shamelessly lined his own pockets with American taxpayer money” under Biden, who Trump says provided Ukraine with some $350 billion in US aid. “And he kept dipping into the pot under Trump, too, taking whatever was left,” Medvedev added.

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The Ukrainian “cozied up to Mexican drug cartels” by providing drone warfare training in exchange for proceeds from drug sales in the US, he alleged.

Zelensky has also “given the American president the finger” by refusing to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries despite Trump’s repeated warnings.

There is a growing rift between Trump and Zelensky over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. The US president has demanded that Ukraine stop, accusing it of exacerbating the global fuel crisis and raising prices for Americans – a sensitive issue ahead of the November 3 US midterms. Kiev has thus far refused.

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Zelensky has also accused Washington of temporarily restricting intelligence sharing and access to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, which Ukraine uses for battlefield communications and drone operations.

To ease the fuel crisis, Trump temporarily waived sanctions on Russian fuel exports as part of a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under the agreement, Moscow agreed to supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, another 500,000 tons in November and further shipments thereafter. The first three tankers carrying Russian diesel are already heading across the Atlantic, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.