Olaf Scholz Condemns Donald Trump’s Remarks Calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy a Dictator

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling them “wrong and dangerous.”

“Trump calls Zelenskyy 'dictator' as Ukraine leader slams him for 'disinformation' Trump falsely claimed that Zelenskyy's public approval rating was as low as 4%”

ABC News

Scholz told the Der Spiegel news magazine, as cited by News.Az, “It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy his democratic legitimacy,” and added, “It is true that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the elected head of state of Ukraine.”

ABC News

Scholz also said, “The fact that no proper elections can be held in the middle of a war is in line with the Ukrainian constitution and electoral laws,” and warned that “No one should claim otherwise.”

Scholz recalled that “it was Russia under President Vladimir Putin that started the war in Ukraine,” and said, “Ukraine has been defending itself against a merciless Russian war of aggression for almost three years. Day after day.”

Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and warned that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a country left,” posting on Truth Social hours after Zelenskyy hit back at Trump’s suggestion that Kyiv “should have never started” the war.

Trump has advanced negotiations to end the “three-year-long war in Ukraine,” which he has pursued “without the participation of Kyiv and other European governments,” according to News.Az.

POLITICO.eu described European leaders’ discomfort with Trump’s approach, quoting Scholz’s line that it is “simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy,” and noting that Ukraine is a “red line” for European support.

The confrontation escalated after Trump’s comments about Zelenskyy and after U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, with multiple outlets tying the verbal clash to the diplomacy.

The Kyiv Independent reported that on Feb. 19 Trump accused Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and warned that “Zelensky better move fast, or he won’t have a country left,” while also making claims that the Ukrainian president said were false.

Anadolu Ajansı

The Kyiv Independent said Trump “falsely claimed that Washington had provided Ukraine with $350 billion in support and that Zelensky had an approval rating of 4%,” and it quoted Zelensky’s response that Trump was trapped in a “disinformation space.”

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty described Trump’s Truth Social post on February 19: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

ABC News reported that Trump repeated the attack in Miami, calling Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” and saying Zelenskyy “better move fast or he's not going to have a country left” while speaking at the Future Investment Institute.

ABC News said the U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh were “to which Ukraine was not invited,” and that the State Department readout called them “an important step forward” toward ending Russia’s “three-year invasion.”

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty connected Trump’s pressure to the election issue, stating that “Ukraine’s constitution bars it from holding elections under martial law,” and it noted that Zelenskyy’s five-year term was due to end in May 2024 after elections in March.

Zelenskyy sought to keep channels open with Washington even as Trump’s rhetoric intensified, meeting with U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv.

“Zelensky meets US envoy, calls for strong ties despite Trump branding him 'dictator' Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called for "strong Ukraine-US relations" after meeting with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday”

France 24

France 24 reported that Zelensky called for “strong Ukraine-US relations” after meeting with Kellogg, describing the meeting as “productive” and saying it came “a day after Donald Trump branded the Ukrainian leader a 'dictator.'”

France 24 quoted Zelensky on social media after the meeting, saying, “We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees,” and adding, “Strong Ukraine-US relations benefit the entire world.”

France 24 said there was no joint press conference or statements after the discussions, “as would typically be expected be for a visiting foreign envoy.”

The Kyiv Independent reported that after Trump’s comments, European leaders reiterated support for Zelensky in phone calls, including a readout that said Keir Starmer “expressed his support for President Zelensky as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader.”

The Kyiv Independent quoted Starmer’s position that it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during wartime, as the U.K. did during World War II.”

France 24 reported that Elon Musk said Zelensky was “despised by the people of Ukraine” and that Mike Waltz told Fox News that Kyiv’s criticism was “unacceptable.”

While European leaders largely defended Zelensky’s legitimacy, the sources show differences in how they framed Trump’s remarks and the urgency of European response.

POLITICO.eu described opposition building against Trump, saying he was “embracing Russia” and “berating Zelenskyy,” and it reported that European leaders were united in “military, financial and rhetorical support of Ukraine.”

GZERO Media

POLITICO.eu quoted Scholz’s statement that it is “simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelenskyy’s democratic legitimacy,” and it cited Starmer’s call to Zelensky that it was “perfectly reasonable to suspend elections during war time as the U.K. did during World War II.”

The Kyiv Independent emphasized the constitutional argument, stating that Ukraine’s constitution “prohibits elections during martial law,” which it said has been in effect since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

It also reported that Finnish President Alexander Stubb tried to ease tension and warned against “hysteria,” saying, “Finland supports Ukraine by all possible means.”

News.az and Anadolu Ajansı both highlighted Scholz’s “wrong and dangerous” language and Friedrich Merz’s rejection of Trump’s framing, with Merz saying it was “basically a classic perpetrator-victim reversal.”

The Hungarian Conservative framed the dispute as “Western hypocrisy,” while The Washington Post described it as “fear of major U.S. shift on Russia.”

The sources portray immediate next steps as European leaders seeking a coordinated approach while Washington continues talks and envoy-level engagement.

“The whole of Europe rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Donald Trump called hima ‘dictator’and criticized his lack of diplomatic and negotiating skills, claiming he was incapable of settling the war in Ukraine”

Hungarian Conservative

France 24 said the White House announced that France's Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Keir Starmer will visit Trump next week after European leaders held emergency summits over how to deal with Trump’s threats to overhaul transatlantic security ties.

Hungarian Conservative

The Kyiv Independent reported that European leaders gathered in Paris on Feb. 17 for an emergency summit amid concerns that the U.S. is advancing peace talks with Russia “without Europe’s involvement,” and it said a broader meeting was held on Feb. 19 after which Macron reaffirmed the “united” stance of France and its allies on Ukraine.

Startmag described the European response as a search for concrete decisions, saying that “The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, yesterday began his bilateral consultations” to seek “additional military aid and security guarantees for Ukraine.”

France 24 reported that Zelensky rejected a deal proposed by Trump because it did not include “security guarantees,” which it said was Kyiv’s key demand from Western backers.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty described how Trump’s election pressure intersects with constitutional constraints, stating that “Ukraine’s constitution bars it from holding elections under martial law.”

ABC News quoted Putin saying the Riyadh meeting “passed in a very well-meaning manner in general,” and it said Putin described the talks as a “trust-building exercise” with the purpose to “elevate confidence between Russia and the U.S.”