Fact- check: Did Ukraine start its war with Russia, as Trump claims?

Trump has blamed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy for starting the war with Russia, fuelling a war of words amid peace initiatives. As the third anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine invasion nears, United States President Donald Trump has offered a false version of history

US and Russian representatives held talks in Saudi Arabia this week that included a discussion on how to end the war in Ukraine. Later, Trump dismissed complaints that Ukrainian officials were not invited to participate
“I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well,” Trump said, answering reporters’ questions at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “But today I heard [from Ukraine], ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years – you should have never started it, you could have made a deal”

This clashes with the evidence that Russia sent a large invasion force into Ukraine in February 2022.

The notion that Kyiv “started it” – that it is to blame for an invasion that has killed an estimated 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers and at least 12,000 civilians – led to outrage in Ukraine and from its allies .

Source: ALJAZERRA