Trump calls Zelensky a “dictator” - Ukraine says Trump is spreading Russian propaganda | BBC News

Donald Trump has accused Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky of being “a dictator without elections” in a further deterioration in relations between the two leaders.

President Trump’s comments on social media followed a false claim that Ukraine had started the war with Russia, along with demands for the country to give the US rights to half its valuable mineral resources.

In response President Zelensky accused Donald Trump of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” and called on Mr Trump’s team “to be more truthful”.

The "dictator" attack from Donald Trump led to criticism from European leaders. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said "it is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Zelensky his democratic legitimacy". The British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also gave his backing in a phone call to the Ukrainian president in which he "expressed his support for Volodymr Zelensky as Ukraine's democratically elected leader".

Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by James Waterhouse, James Landale and Jeremy Bowen.

Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog

For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news

#BBCNews