Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged US President Donald Trump to go to his war-torn nation earlier than making any selections on ending the battle with Russia.
In a televised interview, Zelenskyy mentioned Trump wanted to see firsthand the destruction left behind by Moscow’s invasion.
“Please, earlier than any form of selections, any form of types of negotiations, come to see individuals, civilians, warriors, hospitals, church buildings, kids destroyed or lifeless,” Zelenskyy mentioned throughout a CBS ’60 Minutes’ interview.
He mentioned {that a} go to to Ukraine would assist Trump perceive the character of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “You’ll perceive with whom you may have a deal,” he added.
Zelenskyy made clear that Trump can be free to go to any a part of the nation that has seen destruction. “If Trump selected to go to Ukraine, we won’t put together something. It won’t be theater,” he mentioned. “You possibly can go precisely the place you need, in any metropolis which (has) been underneath assaults.”
Zelenskyy claimed that Putin by no means desires to “finish the warfare.”
“Putin can’t be trusted. I instructed that to President Trump many occasions. So if you ask why the ceasefire is not working – for this reason,” Zelenskyy mentioned. “Putin by no means wished an finish to the warfare. Putin by no means wished us to be impartial. Putin desires to destroy us fully — our sovereignty and our individuals.”
On the query of peace, Zelenskyy mentioned a simply decision can be one which preserves Ukraine’s independence. “To not lose our sovereignty or our independence,” he mentioned, vowing that Ukraine would reclaim its occupied territory. “We, it doesn’t matter what, will take again what’s ours as a result of we by no means misplaced it — the Russians took it from us.”
The feedback come weeks after a tense trade on the White Home in February between Zelenskyy, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance. Vance had accused Ukraine of organising “propaganda excursions” for visiting overseas leaders — a cost Zelenskyy dismissed once more within the interview.
Trump has been pushing for a swift decision to the greater than three-year-old warfare, with the US reportedly holding direct talks with each Russia and Ukraine. Whereas Kyiv has accepted a US-backed proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, Moscow has rejected it to this point.
‘A horrible factor’
After a Russian strike on Sunday in Ukraine’s Sumy that killed at the least 34 individuals, Trump referred to as it “a horrible factor.”
Talking to reporters aboard Air Pressure One, Trump mentioned, “I believe it was horrible. And I used to be instructed they made a mistake. However I believe it is a horrible factor. I believe the entire warfare is a horrible factor.”
The White Home has not blamed Moscow for the strike. Nevertheless, US secretary of state Marco Rubio supplied his condolences “to the victims of at the moment’s horrifying Russian missile assault on Sumy.”
The missile strike on Sumy occurred simply two days after Trump’s presidential envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow to satisfy Russian President Vladimir Putin, aiming to advance US-led efforts towards a doable truce.
