In English, Zelensky repeated a message to Vice President JD Vance, whom he met in Munich on Friday, saying that if the US withdraws from NATO, “it’s the destruction of NATO.” Russian military retaliation begins to occupy Europe, particularly some of the former Soviet countries. He added that European NATO members do not have the military capabilities to defend themselves without the US.
“They’ll start with those countries… Soviet descent, small countries that were in the Soviet Union,” Zelensky said. “But Europe doesn’t answer because they don’t have it. They start protecting themselves. Each country defends itself.”
He added that he couldn’t predict how much of Putin in Europe was trying to capture, but that “possibility” could not be predicted as always hanging on the continent.
Zelenskyy’s comments come as this week’s Trump administration outlined its own goals for peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and Trump revealed he spoke to Putin on the phone on Wednesday.
“As we agree, we want to stop millions of deaths in the war with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump writes about the true society. “We agreed to work very closely, including visiting each other’s countries, and each team agreed to start negotiations soon.”
In an interview Friday, Zelensky thanked Trump and other American leaders for their “support” in Ukraine, but added that there is no “a world leader who can do business with Putin without us.”
Still, Ukrainian leaders believed Trump to have caused fear for Putin.
“(Putin) doesn’t want peace,” Zelensky said. “But I think he’s a bit scared of President Trump, and I think the president has this opportunity.
However, Zelensky begged Trump to stay close to conversations with Putin and other Russian leaders, while still maintaining his loyalty to Ukraine. In an interview, he emphasized that it is “very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without US military aid, addressing the level of trust he currently has in partnership with the US.
“I was very hoping that Ukraine would be prioritized (for Trump, not Russia, and I hope we are more important,” the Ukrainian president said. “We’re not as big as Russia, but strategically, I think Ukraine is more important to the US because we are truly partners, allies and share common values. “I hope so. I hope so. Yes, I hope. I expect that. I count on it very much.”
“I trust President Trump because he is the president of America, because your people, your people, voted for him.
He also warned that no one, including Trump, should trust Putin’s words in their faces.
“Don’t trust Putin, the Ukrainian president said, citing that the Ukrainian president will approach a peace deal with Russia in 2019 before the contract collapses.
Asked what they would say to Putin if the two met for peace negotiations, Zelenki called the Russian leader “killers” and “terrorists.”
“He’s a murderer and he’ll never change,” Zelensky said. “That’s why this is a dialogue with a terrorist. This is a dialogue with a murderer. I don’t have that power, I don’t have enough power to push him out, so I’ll talk about it. It must, so our allies can give me the power to push him out.”
Ukraine border
Zelensky also responded to some points this week that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegses made, saying that Hegses hopes Ukraine will reclaim all the territory that Russia has seized since 2014, and that it is “unrealistic.” “It’s a target.”
