Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants his American counterpart Donald Trump to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky urged Trump to stop pressuring him to agree to a ceasefire after more than four years of war.
The Ukrainian leader told POLITICO that his people are tired, but morale is still high and they are not ready to accept Russia’s ultimatum to hand over vast swaths of territory in the country’s east.
Zelensky urged European leaders to come up with a Plan B to secure Ukraine’s long-term financing, to find a way around what he called “blackmailing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” who has withheld a promised 90 billion euro loan from the European Union (EU).
POLITICO reported on Wednesday that some Baltic and Scandinavian countries have a plan to give Ukraine enough money to keep it afloat through the first half of this year, even if Orban maintains his veto.
But when it comes to peace talks, Zelensky was clear that Trump’s influence will continue to be key. "We need negotiations. We support them", Zelensky said in the interview. "We don't trust Russia, but I think and believe that the Americans really want to end this war. I hope they will help us, but we need more pressure on Russia, not on me."
His comments come a week after Trump expressed renewed disappointment with Zelensky to POLITICO. Trump suggested he had more confidence in Putin's willingness to negotiate a ceasefire than Zelensky, without providing evidence for his opinion.
"I think Putin is ready to make a deal," Trump said.
However, talks with Trump's envoys in December suggested that the United States was ready to provide some form of security guarantee for Ukraine, which would be the basis of any peace agreement. But there are still no details on what those promises would look like, Zelensky said.
"Be honest. This is very important to us, but we don't have a clear answer," he said. President Trump said to me, "Do you believe that our security guarantees can be stronger than NATO's?" I said, "Yes, it's up to you for today. It's up to you, Mr. President. God bless us if we have stronger security guarantees than NATO's. But what will be after you? And what will be after me?" Zelensky said.
The security guarantees will require approval from national parliaments and the U.S. Congress to ensure they cannot be abandoned by future administrations, Zelensky said.
The dynamic changed last week thanks to Trump’s decision to launch prolonged military action against Iran.
Zelensky confirmed that he was sending teams of drone specialists to the Persian Gulf to help America’s allies in the region defend themselves from Iranian bombings with the Shahed drones that Russia has used against Ukraine for the past four years.
Zelensky hopes to secure a supply of the most advanced American PAC-3 missiles for Patriot air defense systems in return, but he also worries that they will run out as they are used by the U.S. military to defend the Persian Gulf.
No final deals have been reached, Zelensky said, and any negotiations are likely to be delicate. He acknowledged that Trump was right in saying he "hates" Putin.
"Of course, I think we hate each other, Zelensky said. On that, Trump is right. Not on everything."