The Ukrainian president fears Washington may no longer be Kiev’s strategic partner after President Trump’s call on Russian leader Putin.
Ukraine is unlikely to survive Russia’s attacks without US support, President Donald Trump announced negotiations to end the war after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Volodimia Zelensky said say.
“It’s probably very, very difficult. And of course, you have a chance in all the difficult situations. But we have a low chance – there are few opportunities to survive without supporting the US.” Zelensky said in an interview with NBC News.
“I don’t think we’re going to be strategic partners,” Zelenskyy added, according to an excerpt from an interview released ahead of the scheduled broadcast on Sunday.
The Ukrainian president also argued that Putin is not interested in ending the war, but is only interested in a temporary ceasefire that leads to the lifting of sanctions, giving Russian troops an opportunity to reorganize.
He also expressed concern that Ukraine could become militarily weakened without US military support and become more vulnerable to Russian attacks.
“We want very peace.”
Trump surprised his allies and announced on Wednesday that he overturned the current state of US support for Ukraine and discussed the war in separate calls between Putin and Zelensky.
In a change in US foreign policy, Trump announced he would soon meet Putin and begin a ceasefire talk.
Trump later said that while he thought it was not practical for Kiev to join NATO, it is unlikely that Ukraine would reclaim all the land. Ukraine demands that Russia withdraw from its captured territory and says it must receive NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.
Zelenskyy met Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference on Friday to prevent Ukraine from closing the three-year war in which Washington killed an estimated 1 million people.
“We want peace very much, but we need real security assurances,” he said after the meeting. He later wrote to X that an envoy from Washington would soon visit Kiev.
Vance explained a “good conversation” with Zelensky and acknowledged the US administration’s goal of ending the war.
“We want to achieve durable peace, not the kind of peace that Eastern Europe would fall into conflict in a few years,” he said.
The European allies, along with Washington, are Ukraine’s strongest supporters, demanded that they be included in negotiations that affect the security of their continent.
Russia currently owns around 20% of Ukraine after launching a full-scale invasion, saying that Kyiv’s pursuit of NATO membership poses an existential threat. Ukraine and the West call Russia’s actions the land of imperialism.
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