Former Trump Aide Labels Zelenskyy as ‘Untrustworthy Crook and Punk’ | World News
A former senior aide to Donald Trump has labeled Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “crook” and a “punk”.
Steve Bannon expressed to Sky’s Ali Fortescue that he believes the US president should withdraw from a proposed minerals agreement with Ukraine.
In a comprehensive interview on the Politics Hub, the former chief strategist described Mr Trump’s strategy to mend ties with Russia as a “brilliant” approach.
Bannon asserted that the UK and Europe should “wake up” to the reality that there is no need to fear a Russia invasion across Europe, as they lack the military capacity to do so.
“The United States’ engagement with Russia undermines the influence of the Chinese Communist Party… it’s a masterstroke,” he said.
Follow live: Zelenskyy’s olive branch to Trump
He added that the EU “will follow suit” and claimed Mr Trump is “making efforts to be a peacemaker”.
However, he was explicit about the possibility of the leader signing an agreement with Ukraine‘s president regarding rare minerals, which was slated for Friday until the two engaged in a heated exchange in the Oval Office.
“Absolutely not. He [Zelenskyy] had his opportunity. Zelenskyy is not to be trusted. He’s a crook and a punk. He demonstrated his untrustworthiness in the Oval Office recently,” Mr Bannon stated.
He suggested that the conflict arose from Mr Zelenskyy attempting to secure guarantees from the US, which the American populace would likely reject.
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Minerals agreement seen as a ‘gift’ to Ukraine
“They repeatedly advised him not to mention security guarantees. A security guarantee implies… American troops, and that is off the table,” Mr Bannon remarked.
He further claimed that the agreement was superfluous and merely a “very general framework” that risked binding the US to the “future rebuilding of the nation”.
“The US has no need for rare earth materials from Ukraine. This was fundamentally a gift to him and the Ukrainian people,” he noted.
However, sources informed Reuters that Mr Trump plans to announce the US and Ukraine’s minerals pact during his upcoming speech to Congress on Tuesday.
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Mr Trump has paused military aid to Kyiv, representing a significant shift towards strengthening ties with Russia.
Call for EU to support Ukraine’s security
Mr Bannon also criticized European nations, arguing that their defense expenditure is inadequate: “The EU should take responsibility and underpin Ukraine’s security.”
Specifically, he dismissed the UK’s pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense as “insignificant”. He also criticized Britain’s military capabilities, asserting that the economy “cannot sustain it”, while noting that the “bond market has already rejected Liz Truss“.
He argued that the “reality” is that much of NATO has not invested adequately in defense, has “pretended” for decades about its capacity to confront Russia, and that the alliance would find it difficult to mobilize “two combat divisions”.
Mr Bannon accused “much of the British establishment” of having business ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
In the context of UK politics, he expressed support for Nigel Farage and believes in Reform.
Mr Farage, who is close to the US president, has had to moderate his enthusiasm for Trump lately, given British public sentiment strongly favors Mr Zelenskyy and Ukraine.
