Elina Svitolina has lashed out at Donald Trump, accusing him of making decisions which have ‘really hurt the Ukrainians’ amid the ongoing war against Russia. The attention of the world was fixated on the White House last Friday, when Trump was involved in a bitter and explosive row with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky met with Trump in the Oval Office hoping to sign a crucial minerals deal that would also guarantee further US support of the Ukrainian war effort. Tensions quickly boiled over, though, with talks descending into an extraordinary shouting match. Zelensky was then asked to leave the White House without putting pen to paper.
The astonishing incident has left Svitolina, a proud Ukrainian and two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, feeling ‘really sad’ for the millions of innocent people caught up in the conflict.
In an interview with The Athletic, she accused Trump of making poor decisions which have not helped Ukraine‘s bid to defeat the Russian invaders. She acknowledged the US support offered by the previous government but was more critical of the current administration.
“The United States has been helping us for a long period of time now,” said Svitolina. “Our government is working really hard to still find the ways, the solutions for the decisions. They’re trying everything and to maybe find other ways, other allies, or something.
“We are just hoping for the best. We are living with unimaginable challenges, pressure, and just not knowing what’s coming tomorrow. Right now, I feel like we are united even more because we feel like the United States is not helping us much for the past few weeks.
“We have to unite, we have to help each other, for the country that we love. Trump just started and already made a lot of decisions that really hurt the Ukrainians. I’m just really sad for all innocent people.”
Svitolina has not shied away from speaking up about Ukraine‘s interests on the world stage over the last few years. She has been using her status as one of the country’s most prominent athletes to raise awareness of what has been going on.
The 30-year-old is an ambassador for United24, the main fundraising body set up to support Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Last year, she wore a black ribbon at Wimbledon in solidarity with the victims of the Russian bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk