• U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration towards critics of his plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war and establish peace in the region.
• Trump emphasized his desire for peace and the need to address the destruction and loss of life caused by the ongoing war, now in its third year.
• The U.S. president defended his stance on holding elections in Ukraine, citing the low approval rating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• Trump questioned the accountability of Ukraine for hundreds of billions of aid received and called for an explanation of where the money went.
• American and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to lay the groundwork for a ceasefire and a potential summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting Zelensky to cancel his scheduled state visit to the kingdom in response to the meeting.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration against critics of his plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war and bring lasting peace to the war-torn region.

He voiced out his discontent in a press conference Tuesday, Feb. 18, held at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump stressed his deep concern for the lives lost and the destruction wrought by the war, which has continued for three years now.

“I want to see peace. Look, you know why I want it? Because I don’t want all these people killed anymore,” the president told reporters. “I’m looking at people that are being killed – Russian and Ukrainian people, but they’re people.”

A reporter from Fox News asked about Russia calling for elections in Ukraine before peace talks can begin. Trump defended his stance of making Kyiv hold elections, noting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s dismal approval numbers.

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law. The leader in Ukraine, I hate to say it, but he’s down at four percent approval rating,” Trump answered. “The country has been blown to smithereens. The country looks like a massive demolition site.”

“You have leadership now that’s allowed a war to go on that should’ve never ever happened, even without the United States. This is something that would have never happened.”

The 47th U.S. president also demanded that Kyiv account for hundreds of billions of aid. He told reporters: “We gave them, I think, $350 billion. Where is all that money that’s been given? Where is it going? I don’t see any accounting.” (Related: Retired Russian colonel: Trump has dirt on Zelensky, knows he’s embezzling billions of dollars in aid.)

“I want to see peace. I don’t want to see all those people killed anymore. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land. No people would have been killed, and no cities would have been demolished.”

Zelensky throws hissy fit, cancels Saudi trip following U.S.-Russia talks

Trump’s press conference at Mar-a-Lago came at the heels of the meeting between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the delegation from Washington, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led the delegation from Moscow. The meeting, also held on Tuesday, aimed to lay the groundwork for a ceasefire and a potential summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov got on Zelensky’s nerves, forcing the Ukrainian leader to cancel his scheduled state visit to the oil-rich kingdom. His original plan was to stop by Riyadh on Wednesday, Feb. 19, to meet the kingdom’s leadership after stops in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. With the cancellation, Zelensky would fly back to Kyiv and move his visit to Saudi Arabia in March.

“Ukraine will not accept. Ukraine knew nothing about this, and Ukraine regards any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine as having no results,” Zelensky said during his stop at the UAE when asked about Trump’s plans.

“Ukraine will not take part in the negotiations. Ukraine did not know they were planned. And the visit to the region was planned long before the U.S. decided to meet Russia there.”

But this mattered little to Trump, who pointed out that Kyiv squandered its chance to take a proactive role in talks to end the war. “I hear they’re upset about not having a seat,” the U.S. president commented. “Well, they’ve had a seat for three years.”

Trump.news has more stories about the 47th U.S. president’s peace plan for Ukraine.

Watch Greg Kelly explaining how President Donald Trump will bring world peace, something former President Joe Biden was unable to do.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Putin: Trump will restore order; Elites will “stand at the master’s feet and gently wag their tails.”

UK, France plotting to stop Trump peace deal by pledging to send troops to Ukraine.

Zelensky now willing to negotiate peace deal to end conflict with Russia.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

FoxNews.com

Brighteon.com