Volodymyr Zelensky says he’s ready to meet with Trump — as he decries weapons delays for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to meet with Donald Trump should the presumptive GOP nominee win the election — but said that if the presidential hopeful has a plan to end Ukraine’s war, he should “tell us today.”
The ex-president — who currently leads the 2024 race in the polls — claimed during last week’s debate that if he wins in November, he could end the desperate war in Eastern Europe even before he gets inaugurated about two months later.
But Zelensky said that if Trump knows how to end the conflict — which began when Russia invaded its neighbor without provocation in February 2022 — he should tell Ukrainian officials now, according to Bloomberg.
“If Trump knows how to finish this war, he should tell us today,” Zelensky said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Kyiv on Wednesday. “If there are risks to Ukrainian independence, if we lose statehood – we want to be ready for this, we want to know.
“They can’t plan my life and the life of our people and our children,” he added during the hour-long interview, in which he also lamented delays in Western weapons system deliveries.
“We want to understand whether in November we will have the powerful support of the US, or will be all alone.”
On Wednesday, a Trump spokesman told The Post that Trump has “repeatedly stated that a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.”
“He will do what is necessary to restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage, and he is the only person who can make that happen,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
Russian officials, however, brushed off Trump’s words.
Vassily Nebenzia, the country’s UN ambassador, said Monday that the “Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day,” according to Business Insider.
Last week, two former Trump administration advisers proposed a plan to force peace negotiations by threatening Moscow that Washington would give Ukraine even more aid if Russia didn’t come to the table.
At the same time, it would withhold aid to Ukraine if it declined to meet with Russian officials.
A senior Ukrainian official told The Post that the government hopes a potential Trump administration would respect both its territory and sovereignty.
During Thursday’s first presidential debate, Trump whined about the United States spending billions in Ukraine’s defense but Kyiv is “not winning the war.”
Zekensky, meanwhile, denied the conflict was deadlocked and insisted Kyiv’s armies have replenished lost manpower and are simply waiting for more arms before launching a counteroffensive, according to Bloomberg.
“It’s not a deadlock, it’s a problematic situation,” he said. “A deadlock means there’s no way out. But a problem can be solved if one has the will and has the tools. We do have the will, and the tools – they haven’t arrived yet.”
The Ukrainian president also praised the $61 billion assistance package passed by Congress earlier this year — but said it was taking too long to get the equipment to the front, the outlet said.
“This is the biggest tragedy of this war, that between the decision and real fact, we have a real long, long, long wait,” Zelenskiy said.
Yesterday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon will send Ukraine a military aid package worth $2.3 billion that will include “more air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from US inventories,” Austin said.
Some of that money will also pay for additional Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems that are critical to defending Ukraine’s airspace from Russian attacks, he said.
The Ukrainian president also rejected overtures from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who urged him to consider a cease-fire.
“Nobody has an answer,” Zelenskiy said, adding that those saying he should accept an armistice haven’t said how it would work.
“I’m not accusing,” he said. “I’m just explaining.”
Additional reporting by Caitlin Doornbos.
