Putin is not ready, but with Trump’s help we can stop this war – Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that with the active involvement of U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin can be compelled to stop the war, even though the Kremlin leader is not interested in doing so.
Zelenskyy said this at the beginning of a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.
"We understand that Putin is not ready, but I am confident that with your help we can stop this war. And we really need that. We see they are not making successful moves on the battlefield, and that’s good. I think their army is now suffering very heavy losses — economic and human. I think this is a very important moment," Zelenskyy emphasized.
Zelenskyy was then asked what concrete concessions he would be prepared to make to end the war, including whether he was ready to forgo NATO membership. Zelenskyy noted the following:
"First of all, I think we need to sit down [at the negotiating table] and talk. Secondly, we need a ceasefire. Even now, you can see in the Middle East how difficult it is to maintain a truce. Everywhere, in every war, it’s never easy. We want peace, Putin doesn’t. That’s why we have to keep up the pressure on him," Zelenskyy said.
He added that he would discuss with Trump what steps need to be taken.
"We understand what’s required to push Putin to the negotiating table. And as I’ve said before, we are ready to talk in any format, bilateral or trilateral, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is peace," the Ukrainian president emphasized.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president said, "We are not talking about NATO or not NATO."
"For Ukrainians, this is very important. Of course, it’s our decision and that of our allies, to determine where we belong. But the most crucial thing for the people of Ukraine, who are under attack every day, is to have truly strong security guarantees. NATO is the best option, but weapons are also very important. Having allies on our side is vital. And, between us, bilateral security guarantees between me and President Trump are very important for us. We haven’t discussed the details yet, but this is the most important document, because the United States is a very strong nation," Zelenskyy emphasized.
