Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited US President Donald Trump to visit Ukraine before making decisions about ceasefire negotiations with Russia, CBS News reported on 13 April.
The interview took place in Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, a week after a Russian missile killed 19 people, including nine children near a playground. At the memorial site, Zelenskyy told 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley: “This means that we can’t trust Russia. It’s that we can’t trust negotiations with Russia.”
“We respect your position,” Zelenskyy said in English during his interview with 60 Minutes, “but, please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of plans for negotiations, come to see the people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”
Zelenskyy warned that the three-year war could escalate if Ukraine and its allies do not stand firm against Russian military advancement. “If we do not stand firm, he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will advance further,” Zelenskyy said. “It is not just idle speculation; the threat is real.”
Zelenskyy expressed concern about Russian narratives gaining traction in the United States. “I believe, sadly, (that) Russian narratives are prevailing in the US,” he said. “How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing, and to still believe that they are not the aggressors?”
The Ukrainian president also disagreed with the US taking a neutral stance. “President Trump, being a strong president of a strong country, must be on Ukraine’s side,” Zelenskyy said. “I think it is wrong that America wants to be neutral.”
On 12 April, Trump said that negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine “perhaps are going well” but stressed that “there comes a time when you either make a deal or you remain silent.”
Prior to this, Trump said that he was disappointed with the lack of significant progress in negotiations over recent weeks and was “pissed off” about Putin’s comments regarding Ukraine. Sources told the publication that Trump might impose additional sanctions against Russia if a ceasefire is not reached by the end of the month.
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