US Senator Sanders accuses Trump of lying and supporting Putin's dictatorship
The US Congress senator from Vermont has accused US President Donald Trump of lying and supporting the dictatorial regime of Vladimir Putin.
"We are witnessing a very sad moment in American history. The President of the United States is aligning himself with the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to undermine the independence of Ukraine and its democracy," Sanders said in a video message on the X social network.
The senator noted that Trump presented one of the "world's most brutal dictators" as his friend, while his "long time democratic allies in Europe" were his enemies.
"Trump is lying - as he so often does. Yesterday, Trump said that Ukraine started the war. That's not true, Russia invaded Ukraine twice, first in 2014, then again in 2022. Right now, Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine," Sanders emphasized.
He noted that the Russian army attacks Ukrainian cities and villages with missiles and drones every day, the Russian armed forces kill and torture civilians and kidnap Ukrainian children, for which the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.
Sanders also noted that Trump lied when he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator."
"That is not true either - Zelenskyy won 75% of the vote in free elections, and in fact, his approval rating is higher than Trump's," he added.
Sanders said that outside of the war, "Ukraine's parliament continues to function and unfettered political debate takes place."
The senator focused on who Trump is negotiating with - Vladimir Putin.
"Trump supports one of the world's most brutal dictators, who holds sham elections, suppresses free speech, persecutes the opposition and allows oligarchs to plunder Russia," he emphasized. "The United States is the longest standing democracy in the world, we should stand tall and say: YES to democracy, NO to authoritarianism," Sanders concluded.