Zia’s photo via Getty Images
Donald Trump bragged that if he took over the presidency again, he might end Russia’s war with Ukraine. He said, “I will settle this war in one day, 24 hours.” But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the nonsense, saying that Trump does indeed have his chance to end Vladimir Putin’s aggression against his country.
“It seems to me that the only desire to end the war is beautiful,” Zelensky said during an interview on ABC. this week Sunday, after host Martha Raddatz played a clip of Trump’s bragging. But this desire must be based on some real-world experiences. Well, it looks as if Donald Trump really got those 24 hours once in his time. We were at war, we weren’t at all-out war, but we were at war, and as I suppose, he had that time at his disposal, but he must have had some other priorities.”
Zelensky added that Trump’s idea of ending the war might be for Ukraine to cede some of its territory to Russia. “If we are talking about ending the war at the expense of Ukraine, in other words, to make us give up our territory, well, I think, in this way, Biden could end the war even in five minutes, but we will not agree,” he said.
In recent weeks, world leaders have been discussing the merits of Ukraine joining NATO, which would give it a guarantee of NATO protection in a war with Russia. Zelensky said he hopes that even if Ukraine is not invited to join the coalition, it will give his country security guarantees regardless. However, if those guarantees are not on the table, he may not attend the next NATO summit.
“If there is no unity in terms of technically inviting Ukraine to join the coalition, then it is all about political will only to find the appropriate wording and invite Ukraine,” he said. It would be important to say that NATO is not afraid of Russia. Ukraine should have clear security guarantees when it is not a member of NATO. This is a very important point. Only under these conditions will our meeting be meaningful. Otherwise, it’s just another policy.”
Zelensky also shared words of gratitude to the Americans for all they have done to help Ukraine and a message to those who say the US has already helped “enough” and should stop supporting it.
“I want to say thank you to all Americans for what you’ve done, and I appreciate those who say you’ve done enough. Believe me, no matter what I appreciate the help,” he said. “When it comes to the word enough, well, we Ukrainians are not people who are notorious for excessive appetites. Our victory is enough for us. Honestly, when we have enough for our victory, that will be enough.”
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