Trump brands Zelenskys two Ukraine demands as | Political News

President Donald Trump said that Ukrainian President Zelensky had two demands for Russian President Putin, and he “didn’t say it in a very nice way.”

Trump explained, “It was always… long before Putin, it was an understanding that Ukraine wouldn’t be going into NATO. This was long before Putin, in all equity.”

He added, “And now they pushed, you know, when Zelensky first went in and first met Putin, he said, I want two things. I want Crimea back. And we’re going to be a member of NATO. He didn’t say it in a very nice way either, you know, it.”

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. In 2022, on Feb. 24, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dropping bombs on key cities in the early hours of the morning as tanks headed toward Kyiv.

Launching a profitable protection, Ukraine was in a position to forestall Russia from taking Kyiv. However, practically 4 years in, over 1.4 million Ukrainian and Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the conflict in Ukraine started. Nearly 14,000 Ukrainian civilians have also been killed.

Trump also argued as he spoke with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns on an episode of The Conversation at the White House on Monday that it is time for Ukraine to maintain elections, as Zelensky’s place seems weak as a corruption scandal takes maintain. “They haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,” Trump said.

Ukraine hasn’t had elections due to Martial Law being in impact. There’s also a debate on switching leaders during wartime. Ministers have argued that elections are unimaginable with so many displaced, so many Ukrainians residing overseas as refugees, while others are at the entrance.

Trump also trashed European leaders for not having the ability to productively negotiate a peace settlement, one thing Trump also hasn’t been in a position to do. “They talk, but they don’t produce, and the war just keeps going on and on,” Trump said of European leaders.

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Meanwhile, Zelensky has reaffirmed his firm refusal to cede any territory, resisting U.S. strain for a painful compromise with Russia as he continued to rally European help for Ukraine.

“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelensky said in a WhatsApp chat late Monday in which he answered reporters’ questions.

“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right. According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either.”

Also in the POLITICO interview, Trump pressed Zelensky to settle for the U.S. proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Putin, arguing that Russia retains the “upper hand” and that Zelensky’s authorities must “play ball.”

Trump lately launched a peace proposal that Kyiv must cede control of the Donbas area of jap Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the thought of handing over land.

“You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump told POLITICO, claiming that other unnamed Ukrainian officers agree with the U.S. administration. “His people loved the proposal. They really liked it. His lieutenants, his top people, they liked it, but they said he hasn’t read it yet.”