“The president says he told Trump about previous attempts at negotiations with Russia and “that Putin gives his word and then doesn’t keep it.””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Commenting on Trump’s statements about the war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy praised his calls to Russia to negotiate in order to avoid increasing sanctions. At the same time, he said that he told the US president about previous attempts at negotiations with Russia and “that Putin gives his word and then does not keep it.”
“If that party does not keep its word and breaks it and very often lies, then exceptional conditions are needed. That is, to create such an atmosphere around that, regardless of certain agreements, to ensure the impossibility of breaking the agreements again and returning the war to Ukraine… I felt from the meetings that he (end of the war – ed.) wants, told him frankly that Putin definitely doesn’t want it, so it won’t happen quickly. But Trump, thanks to the power, sanctions, strength of the USA, the economy, can speed it up,” Zelensky believes.
Read also: The negotiating platform without Ukraine “will not have real results” – Zelenskyi
When asked about the possibility of a settlement format without the participation of the US, the president pointed to the number of European armies.
“In France – 200 thousand plus. On paper 250, I don’t know the real composition, but we understand that somewhere around these numbers. All other countries – less. That is, if without the USA, Europe, with all due respect – France, Italy, Germany – even if they are all together and join the million-strong army of Ukraine, then yes, we will be able to match. But if we say who can stop it, then only a large number of allies. If we don’t have America, Ukraine should not reduce its army, but increase it, because Europe will not be enough,” he says.
The head of state said that during the summit in Switzerland, he called on European partners to strengthen their defense capabilities. According to him, they have “every opportunity to increase spending on their defense, their army and weapons, on technology.”
Among the technologies that can be useful for border protection in peacetime, Zelenskyi named drones and electronic warfare systems. He expressed his belief that Europe should strengthen its defense even after the end of the war, because its armies are weaker than Russia’s.
Read also: Trump’s representative in Ukraine told how the US can put pressure on Russia to end the war
“I don’t really want to talk about strengthening the army, to be honest, I want to talk about something else, to fight real challenges for humanity. There are many different diseases, spend on science, education, but you and I live in realities, and you know these realities, you yourself were in captivity. There are such people. There are such states. And they don’t care about your rights, your lives. They understand only the language of force. Today’s Putin’s Russia is just such a state. It is no different from today’s Iran and North Korea,” the president said.
In his social networks, Zelensky previously announced a conversation with Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, noting that this is her first interview after being released from prison in Iran.
Sala is an Italian journalist who was detained in Iran last December. In early January, Iran released her before Italy released from prison Muhammad Abedini, suspected of supplying advanced drone technology to the Iranian military in violation of US sanctions.
US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the European Union should do more to support Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said defense spending may have to rise to 3.7 percent of GDP. Only Poland is currently above this indicator. The current target for defense spending is 2 percent of GDP, which most members have met or exceeded by 2024. Rutte also called on Europe to invest more in defense, to increase the production of weapons and to take a greater share of the costs of aid to Kyiv.
The new spending target is likely to be agreed at the NATO summit in The Hague in June. This requires the consent of all 32 member states.