WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator," ramping up his criticism of the wartime leader and escalating tensions while efforts to end Russia's invasion of its neighbor are ongoing.

Trump asserted in a social media post that Zelenskyy has taken billions of dollars from the United States to fight against Russia while failing to end the conflict.

Referring to Zelenskyy's career as a popular entertainer before he took office in 2019, Trump blamed the "modestly successful comedian" for dragging the previous U.S. administration into funding "a war that couldn't be won, that never had to start," and that Ukraine "will never be able to settle" without help from his administration.

Trump went on to refer to Zelenskyy as "a dictator without elections," accusing the Ukrainian leader of refusing to stand for reelection amid the war, given that his five-year term was supposed to run through May 2024.

He also falsely claimed that Ukraine started the conflict while urging Zelenskyy to accept a peace deal quickly or risk losing his country.

The attack via social media came hours after the Ukrainian leader claimed Trump was "living in a disinformation space" made by Russia and demanded that his new administration respect the truth.

Later Wednesday, he made similar criticisms of Zelenskyy at an investment conference in Florida, organized by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

He said Zelenskyy must "move fast because that war is going in the wrong direction. In the meantime, we're successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia, something all admit only Trump is going to be able to do."

"I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job. His country is shattered," Trump said.

"You can't bring a war to an end if you don't talk to both sides, you got to talk," Trump added. "It's my hope that my greatest legacy will be as a peacemaker and a unifier."

On Tuesday, Trump said he was "much more confident" of striking a deal to stop the nearly three-year-old war after senior officials of the United States and Russia held their first round of negotiations.

During the U.S.-Russia talks, which took place in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the two countries will form high-level teams to continue working on a path to ending the conflict.

As the war continues, Zelenskyy has retained his post as security conditions and legal constraints, specifically the ongoing declaration of martial law, do not allow for presidential or parliamentary elections.

But Russia, which launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has repeatedly questioned Zelenskyy's legitimacy as president.