Berlin:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that it was “wrong and dangerous” of US President Donald Trump to call Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”.

“What is correct is that Volodymyr Zelensky is the elected head of state of Ukraine,” Scholz told the Spiegel news site.

Earlier on Wednesday Trump called Zelensky “a dictator without elections”.

Zelensky’s five-year term ended last year but Ukrainian law does not require elections during wartime.

Scholz condemned any attempt “to deny President Zelensky democratic legitimacy”.

“The fact that proper elections can’t be held in the middle of the war is reflected in the Ukrainian constitution and electoral law,” he said.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also hit back at Trump’s comments, branding them “absurd”.

“If you look at the real world instead of just firing off a tweet, then you know who in Europe has to live in the conditions of a dictatorship: people in Russia, people in Belarus,” Baerbock told broadcaster ZDF.

Earlier Berlin had also pushed back against Trump’s claim that Kyiv had “started” the fighting.

“No one but Putin started or wanted this war in the heart of Europe,” Baerbock said in a statement, adding that “we are working with all our might to further strengthen Ukraine”.

She said “we are at an existential waypoint for security and peace in Europe” and that the goal was “achieving lasting peace for Ukraine — safe and protected from future Russian aggression”.

Baerbock said that any “false peace … would only give Russia a respite for new military campaigns”.

Regarding the fast-moving events since Trump spoke directly with Putin about ending the conflict, she said that “we must not allow ourselves to be confused” and “keep a cool head”.

Downplaying Europe’s role on Ukraine “only plays into the hands” of Russia, she said.

“I therefore advocate acting confidently towards the US administration.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)