Zelenskyy dismisses Trump’s Ukraine remarks as election talk

He said it in an interview on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday, Politico reports. 

Zelenskyy responded to Trump’s vow to stop the war, treating it as a typical campaign promise. “Election messages are election messages,” Zelenskyy said. “Sometimes they are not very real.”

Concerns have been raised that Trump might broker a peace deal that favors Russian leader Vladimir Putin. However, Zelenskyy shared that his previous conversation with Trump was positive. “I had a phone call with Donald Trump, and he said he’s very supportive,” Zelenskyy told Zakaria.

During a debate earlier in the week, Trump avoided directly stating he wants Ukraine to win, saying instead, “Just get it done. Negotiate a deal.”

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy commented on U.S. President Joe Biden’s hesitation to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to target Russian bases. Putin has warned that such action could escalate the conflict, but Zelenskyy remains hopeful. “Everybody is looking [for] the decision of the United States,” he said, emphasizing that military bases, not civilian targets, would be hit.

Zelenskyy plans to present a peace proposal to both Biden and Trump in future meetings, noting, “It’s about security. Security. It’s about the geopolitical place for Ukraine.”

When Zakaria questioned whether the war could end without a complete victory for either side, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine needs to negotiate from a position of strength. "It's when you're very strong... And the other side knows that you're very strong," he said.