Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky broke with President Trump’s optimistic assessment that Moscow wants peace — contending that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin hasn’t sent any signals to that effect.
“I don’t see it because, first of all, I don’t hear it publicly,” Zelensky bluntly told Fox News’ Bret Baier in a preview clip that aired on “Fox & Friends First.”
“He doesn’t speak about peace,” Zelensky added. “He says that he can go further. It’s not the signals of peace.”
During their powwow at Mar-a-Lago Sunday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he believes Putin is serious about peace and replied, “I do.”
Trump spoke with Putin for nearly two hours before his meeting with Zelensky to run through the 20-point peace plan. The Russian brute has repeatedly threatened to keep waging war on Ukraine until the Kremlin conquers the remainder of the Donbas region.
“If Ukraine does not want to resolve everything peacefully, Russia will resolve all its objectives by military means,” Putin said earlier this month, per a translation.
Putin has also repeatedly rejected calls for a cease-fire to allow negotiations to play out — a position Trump says he understands.
During a press conference Sunday that followed Trump and Zelensky’s private meeting alongside their delegations, the president said he feels Putin wants Ukraine to be successful.
“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump said during a riff about plans for reconstruction in Ukraine.
Zelensky stared forward, looking visibly uncomfortable, before letting out a quick laugh when Trump admitted that some may view that assessment as “strange.”
Throughout negotiations, the key hangup has consistently been territorial concessions. Zelensky has maintained that he lacks the authority to cede land to Russia on his own.
“It’s their land,” Zelensky explained during the press conference, referring to the Ukrainian people. “The land, not of one person, it’s the land of our nation for a lot of generations.”
The Ukrainian leader said he would need a referendum or approval from his parliament before he could make any territorial concessions to Russia. Trump mused Sunday that he would have robust support for doing so to end the war, but Zelensky cast doubt on that.
“People want peace. Today President Trump said, I saw the polls that 85%, maybe 87 he said, want peace,” Zelensky told Baier in another clip previewed on “Fox & Friends.”
“So they agree. I said, yeah, you know, this is our life — 87% support peace. At the same time, 85% are against withdrawing from east, you know, from the Donbas. It’s been that everybody want peace.”
“All the parties have to understand that the worst way is to go out from the Donbas. It will be big risks for Ukraine. Not acceptable by Ukrainians, not them but just personally and referendum will not be positive.”
