If President Trump has the will to force Putin to come to peace, he can do it - Zelenskyy
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
If US President Donald Trump wants to force Russian leader Vladimir Putin to come to peace, he will succeed, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy says in an interview with Fox News.
"If President Trump has the will to force Putin to come to peace, he can do it," Zelenskyy said, adding that he hopes any potential peace agreement will be more than just a piece of paper.
"We want him (Trump) to be on the side of justice, on the side of Ukraine," the president emphasized.
According to Zelenskyy, Trump's rhetoric regarding Putin and negotiations is fair and just. He added that this is exactly what the Russian president fears – a strong leader supporting Ukraine.
Zelenskyy called for increased international pressure on Putin, particularly from China, to achieve peace and broader security guarantees.
"I believe that guarantees from Europe alone will never be enough. The Europeans understand that without guarantees of security from the United States, from President Trump, it will not be enough. Putin is not afraid of Europe. Unfortunately, that is so," Zelenskyy said.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion, he had asked former President Joe Biden and his team to take preventive actions, such as imposing sanctions against Russia. He also asked for weapons, but, according to him, he was told that they would only be provided if Russia attacked.
"Parallel with that, I was asking the European Union countries, and they could not do it without the approval of the United States. So they always look at the leader, the United States, as the leader. So, during the big invasion, Ukrainians were left on their own, and we were fighting on our own," he said.
Trump's statements regarding Ukraine
Even before winning the election, Donald Trump claimed that he could supposedly end Russia's war against Ukraine in one day. Later, Western media reported that Trump tasked his special representative, Keith Kellogg, with ending the war in Ukraine within 100 days.
After his inauguration, Trump addressed Putin, urging him to sign a peace agreement. He also threatened Russia with additional tariffs and sanctions.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, he stated that he wanted to meet with Putin and expressed hope that China would help bring an end to the war.
