President Donald Trump this week falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war that has cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives, causing outrage and alarm in a country that has spent nearly three years fighting back a much larger Russian military.

U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, again calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator without elections” and blaming him for the ongoing war.

Russia’s attempt to blame Ukraine, which Trump has now parroted, is part of a longstanding argument that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.