In an exclusive interview with the British newspaper "The Guardian", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that unlike other Western leaders, he was not "afraid" of Donald Trump and dismissed reports that their last meeting in Washington was stormy, adding that he has a good relationship with the US president.
Zelensky spoke after devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine's power grid that led to power outages in most Ukrainian regions on Sunday as engineers tried to restore the grid. The lights went out twice during the conversation, the Guardian notes.
The Ukrainian president denied allegations that Trump had thrown away battlefield maps during a heated exchange in October at the White House, where Zelensky had arrived hoping to secure supplies of US Tomahawk cruise missiles. "He didn't throw anything. I'm sure of it," Zelensky said. The Ukrainian leader described his relationship with Trump as "normal," "businesslike" and "constructive."
According to the Financial Times, Trump pressured Zelensky to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms for ending the war and said the Russian leader would "destroy" Ukraine if it didn't agree. Zelensky said the meeting went differently.
The Ukrainian delegation set three conditions for Trump and his team, outlining successive measures, including weapons and economic sanctions, that would "weaken" Moscow, the Ukrainian president said.
In a statement at the presidential palace in Kiev, Zelensky said that "everyone in the world" was afraid of Trump. "This is the truth", he added. Asked if that was true of him, he replied: "No... we are not enemies of America. We are friends. Why should we be afraid?"
He added: "Trump was elected by his people. We must respect the choice made by the American people, just as I was elected by my people. The United States has been our strategic partner for many years, maybe even decades and centuries." The two countries share deep common values, unlike "imperialist" and revisionist Russia, Zelensky said.
In the interview, Zelensky also stressed that Britain's King Charles III played a crucial role behind the scenes, encouraging the US president to support Ukraine more enthusiastically, after a stormy Oval Office meeting in February, when Trump publicly threatened Zelensky and kicked him out of the White House.
During his state visit to the UK in September, Trump held a private meeting with the king. " "I don't know all the details, but I understand that His Majesty has given some important signals to President Trump," Zelensky said.
He said Trump respected the king and considered him "very important."
Seconds after Zelensky sat down to talk to the Guardian, the interview was plunged into darkness when the power supply to the Mariinsky Palace in the heart of the Ukrainian capital went out.
However, after the palace's backup generator was turned on, the lights flickered.
"These are our living conditions," Zelensky said with a wry smile. "This is normal. We have power fluctuations in Kiev, like everywhere else." He said Putin was ordering "terrorist attacks" on Ukraine's energy system, killing civilians and leaving them without electricity and water. "He cannot create tension in our society in any other way."
Zelensky said he was working closely with international partners to protect Ukraine from Russian nighttime drone attacks. So far, however, Britain and other allies have rejected sending fighter jets to patrol the skies over the central and western parts of the country - a long-standing request by Kiev. Zelensky said he wanted to order 27 Patriot air defense systems from American manufacturers. In the meantime, European countries could provide Ukraine with their existing systems, he said.
When asked whether the EU and Britain were doing enough on the eve of a cold and bleak winter, Zelensky replied: "It is never enough. Enough will be enough when the war is over. And enough will be enough when Putin understands that he must stop." He said he maintains a warm relationship with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and is in "constant contact" with London.
After Trump ruled out U.S. military involvement, the governments of France and Britain have promised to send troops as part of a possible peace deal. Asked whether he would like British troops to arrive sooner - for example, to take up a defensive position on Ukraine's border with Belarus - Zelensky replied: "Of course. We have asked for many things, including weapons and membership in the EU and NATO."
He said, however, that the question of a European military presence in Ukraine while the war is ongoing should be approached with caution. "Leaders are afraid of their societies. They don't want to get involved in the war," he said. Ultimately, it is "their choice" whether to deploy troops. If too much pressure is applied, Kiev risks losing "financial and military support from our partners".
In recent days, Russian troops have captured most of the eastern city of Pokrovsk after a long and bloody campaign. Zelensky said Moscow had invested enormous forces in its operation - – "170,000 people" - with the war being most fierce and brutal in the Donetsk region, Putin's main target. "That's the whole story. There is no (Russian) success there. And there are many casualties," he said.
According to Zelensky, Moscow had irretrievably lost 25,000 soldiers in October.
He also said the Kremlin was waging a "hybrid war against Europe" and testing NATO's red lines.
Zelensky said it was entirely possible for Russia to open a second front against another European country before the war in Ukraine is over: "I believe so. He can do it. We should forget the general European skepticism that Putin first wants to occupy Ukraine, and then he can go somewhere else. He can do both at the same time."
According to the Ukrainian president, "Putin is in a dead end situation in terms of real success. For him, it is more of a stalemate. That is why these failures may force him to look for other territories. It is very difficult for us, but we are at home and we are defending ourselves."
He described Russia as a large and aggressive country that needs a large external adversary to unite its different ethnic groups and regions. Putin sees the United States and the West as enemies, he said. "Friendship with Russia is not a solution for America. In terms of values, Ukraine is much closer to the US than to Russia".