The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has indicated this Saturday that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he has had a public argument in the context of the war in Ukraine, is not interested “in achieving peace” but in criticizing the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.
“He does not have to stay there and say about Putin this, about Putin that, all negative things,” said the president in statements to journalists, according to the American channel CNN.
In this sense, he has assured that “what Zelensky has to do” is “make peace”: “He does not have to stay there and say negative things about Putin. He has to say that he wants to make peace.”
“I don’t want to continue fighting a war. His people are dying. He doesn’t have the cards in his hand, so you understand,” he insisted, adding that the Russian leader wants to return to the White House after the public row “right now.” “But I can’t do it,” the American stressed.
When asked if he was considering the possibility of reducing military aid to Ukraine, Trump replied: “It doesn’t matter what I’m considering. I’ll just tell you this: you saw what I saw today. That’s not a man who seeks peace, and the only thing I care about is knowing if he wants to end the bloodshed.”
Trump received Zelensky at the White House on Friday in order to complete negotiations for a crucial agreement on Ukrainian rare earths, a pact that guaranteed the continuation of American assistance against the invasion of Russia in exchange for access to these resources.
However, during the meeting, Zelensky ended up leaving the presidential residence alone, without making any statements, and without signing the agreement – considered one of the last hopes for preserving the ties between kyiv and Washington – after an almost shouting discussion with the American president in front of the main media gathered in the Oval Office.
