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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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Trump refuses to label Putin a dictator

2 min read
Trump refuses to label Putin a dictator
US President Donald Trump during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, US, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. The Conservative Political Action Conference launched in 1974 brings together conservative organizations, elected leaders, and activists. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump chose not to label Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator while responding to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Feb. 24.

"I don't use those words lightly... I think we're going to see how it all works out," Trump said on Feb. 24 when asked if he would call Putin a dictator the same way he labeled President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 19.

Trump called Ukrainian leader a "dictator" in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, accusing him of refusing to hold elections, and repeating false claims about the war in Ukraine.

Trump's remarks disregard Ukraine's constitution which prohibits elections under martial law and echoed the narratives of Russian propaganda.

Trump will meet with Zelensky within the next two weeks to finalize a minerals deal. Ukraine and the U.S. have been working out the terms of such a deal for weeks.

Trump said in early February that he wanted to strike a deal with Ukraine involving access to rare earth minerals in exchange for continued aid. Trump later claimed that Kyiv has "essentially agreed" to a $500 billion resource deal. A former Ukrainian official described the initial deal as "a colonial agreement."

Following Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet Trump on Feb. 27.

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Volodymyr Ivanyshyn

News Editor

Volodymyr Ivanyshyn is a news editor for The Kyiv Independent. He is pursuing an Honors Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science with a minor in anthropology and human geography. Volodymyr holds a Certificate in Business Fundamentals from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto. He previously completed an internship with The Kyiv Independent.

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