Trump Demands Zelenskyy Hold Elections
United States President Donald Trump is demanding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hold elections before a final peace settlement can be made over the Russo-Ukrainian War.
After a four-hour discussion between U.S. and Russian delegates in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, both nations agreed that presidential elections must be held in Ukraine.
“The proposal raises concerns that Russia will use the ballot to oust Ukraine’s wartime leader from office and install a pro-Putin candidate who would agree to peace terms favorable to Moscow,” reported the Telegraph.
Trump’s idea: President Trump, however, said of the call for a Ukrainian election, “That’s not a Russian thing; that’s something coming from me and coming from many other countries also.”
We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine—I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4 percent approval rating—and where a country has been blown to smithereens. Most of the cities are laying on their sides. The buildings are collapsed. It looks like a massive demolition site.
—Donald Trump
Ukraine’s fault: Trump also criticized Zelenskyy for complaining he was not invited to the peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia. He added Ukraine “should have never started” the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
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. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine. That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land—and no people would have [been] killed, and no city would have been demolished.
—Donald Trump
Europe’s role: President Trump said that “the other thing that has been bothering me a long time” is that Europe needs to start paying more for its own defense. He said the U.S. has paid more for Ukraine’s war than European nations, but now “we have to equalize with Europe.”
Trump’s error: Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned of the dangers of this happening. In the May-June 2023 Trumpet issue, Mr. Flurry explained that President Trump’s negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his calls for Europe to militarize will not bring peace.
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump had a consistent message for Europe: You must step up militarily. He complained that America was paying too much for nato and that Europe wasn’t pulling its weight. He particularly pushed Germany to remilitarize. He encouraged it to increase its military spending to 4 percent of its gross domestic product—a figure that would make this nation, against whom America and the Allies fought in World War ii, the third-greatest defense spender in the world after America and China! Even 2 percent would make it a bigger spender than Russia. But combine such spending with the other nations of the EU, and Trump was advocating transforming Europe into a military superpower!
—Gerald Flurry
Mr. Flurry bases his warning on Bible prophecy:
What Donald Trump doesn’t realize is that Bible prophecy shows that it is not Russia America needs to be concerned about, or even China. The power we most need to watch out for in end-time events is Europe. …
Prophecy shows that America’s efforts will backfire spectacularly. The superpower that is prophesied to destroy and dethrone America and take its place in dominating the world is a German-led European alliance!
To better understand this prophecy and where the events of the war in Ukraine are leading, read Mr. Flurry’s article “The Ukraine War Will Not Start World War III!”
