Zelensky: Trump rhetoric 'exactly what Putin is afraid of'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky argued during an interview that President Trump’s recent tough rhetoric is what Russian President Vladimir Putin is “afraid of.”

Since being sworn in, Trump has put more pressure on Putin to negotiate with Ukraine in order to reach a peace agreement that would potentially end the nearly three-year war in Eastern Europe. Trump said Putin is “destroying his country” and threatened to slap sanctions on the Kremlin if the agreement is not forged soon.

“And this is exactly what Putin is afraid of. He doesn't want strong Trump supporting Ukraine, because it would be strong Ukraine,” Zelensky told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. “And the territory — territorial integrity is what every country must respect, even such country as China understands that you cannot interfere with territorial integrity, but he did it.”

“And [Putin] wasn't stopped by the previous agreement like Minsk agreements. He — he was saying that those were separatists, but they in fact were his men. Those agreements were — were instigated by him and then he started the big invasion,” Zelensky added, referring to the 2014 peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which temporarily stopped the fighting in the Donbas region.

Zelensky said on Fox News that Ukraine retook 50 percent of the territory Russia took since the start of its February 2022 invasion and that Ukraine is open to diplomatic talks to broker a ceasefire. Trump, who has called for a ceasefire between the two sides, said last week that he would like to meet with Putin “soon” to lobby for an end to the conflict.

“We are not afraid,” Zelensky said during the interview. “Russia is not that strong, but we don't want to lose more of our lives, men and women.”

Zelensky said Tuesday that he wants Trump to be on the side of “justice, on the side of Ukraine.” Trump suggested last week that Ukraine’s president “shouldn’t have allowed” the conflict to occur and that Kyiv should have cut a deal with Russia before the invasion took place in 2022.

Ukraine launched an offensive in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month, an area it took some part of in August last year but has since struggled to maintain the territory.

“We would — but we cannot recognize the occupation. That is our people and that is our land and our right — the right of ... our people is for those territories. We cannot legally recognize that occupation, but we prefer to resolve that diplomatically, not through a military fight,” Zelensky said. “That's what we want.”

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