Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a very clear demand to Donald Trump amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The POTUS recently took to Truth Social to vow that he was ready to impose ‘major sanctions’ on Vladimir Putin’s Russia, as long as NATO agreed to cease buying oil from the country.
“As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking!” Trump claimed on Saturday (September 13).
“It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia. Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are.
Advert
“Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”
Zelenskyy has since called for a 'clear position' from Trump on the sanctions he plans to impose on Russia and the security guarantees for Ukraine needed to bring the war to an end.
Trump is embarking on a UK state visit this week, and the Ukrainian president hopes Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be able to push Trump on a few matters.
"I very much hope he [Starmer] will be able to have a very specific discussion on the security guarantees of the US for Ukraine," Zelenskyy told Sky News.
"Before we end the war, I really want to have all the agreements in place. I want to… have a document that is supported by the US and all European partners. This is very important.
"To make this happen, we need a clear position of President Trump."
Zelenskyy added: "I believe that the US is strong enough to take decisions of their own. I believe Donald Trump can give us air defence systems in quantity and US has enough.
"I'm sure the US can apply enough sanctions in order to hurt the Russian economy, plus Donald Trump has enough force to make Putin afraid of him.
"Europe has already introduced 18 sanctions packages against Russia. And all that's lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US."
Tensions appear to have escalated in recent weeks after Poland shot down Russian missiles in its airspace. Furthermore, the Kremlin recently claimed Nato is 'at war with Russia'.
Zelenskyy added to Sky News: "He's [Putin] testing NATO. He wants to see what NATO is ready for, what they're capable of, both diplomatically and politically, and how the local population will respond to this."
Topics: Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Politics, World News
Callum Jones