Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asserted that if Donald Trump attempts to pressure Kyiv into accepting a peace agreement with Russia, he would be deemed a “loser” president and would risk igniting a Third World War.
While asserting that he has “no strategy yet” if former President Trump returns to the White House, Zelensky appeared to set out his opening negotiating position in case the presumptive Republican nominee and current frontrunner defeats 81-year-old Democrat President Joe Biden in November.
In an interview with Britain’s left-wing Guardian newspaper, Zelensky questioned Trump’s desire to end the war, asking, “Does he want to become a loser president? Do you understand what can happen?”
“This is not about him [Trump], as a person but about the institutions of the United States. They will become very weak. The US will not be the leader of the world any more. Yes, it will be powerful, first of all, in the domestic economy because it has a powerful economy without a doubt. But in terms of international influence, it will be equal to zero,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky argued that if Washington is seen to appease Moscow, it would open up space for other authoritarian countries to model Putin’s approach and “come into the arena” of war, saying that this would result in “the beginning of what everyone is so afraid to talk about. This is reality. And this is the real third world war.”
The embattled leader, strongly implied that Ukrainians would outright reject any peace deal that included giving up the Eastern Donbas region or Crimea to Russia. He firmly stated, “Ukrainians would not put up with that.”
The president of Ukraine argued that his people would not succumb to any “ultimatum” from Putin, which would entail abandoning their aspirations of joining the American-led NATO military alliance or pursuing further European integration, such as joining the EU.
Zelensky has long held that no direct negotiations for peace could be held with Moscow until Ukraine’s 1991 borders are restored and Russia withdraws its forces from the Donbas and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 under the Obama administration following what it claimed was a Western-backed coup against then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych for attempting to maintain neutrality between the EU and Russia.
However, setting aside rhetoric, the harsh reality persists that Ukraine was unable to regain any substantial territory during last year’s unsuccessful counteroffensive and is presently enduring a new offensive by Putin’s forces.
While President Trump has not publicly disclosed his strategy for peace negotiations between the two countries, he has asserted that if re-elected, he could resolve the conflict within “24 hours.”
After a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Florida earlier this year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime ally, claimed that Mr. Trump would halt aid to Kyiv. The intention behind this move would be to pressure Zelensky into joining negotiations.
“That is why the war will end, because it is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet. If the Americans don’t give money and weapons and the Europeans don’t give them, then this war is over. And if the Americans don’t give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war, and then the war is over,” Orbán explained in March.
The latest comments from Zelensky come as he is attempting to convince more world leaders to attend a “peace” conference in Switzerland, lobbying Asian leaders at the Singapore security forum to rally for his cause while casting blame on China for supporting the Russian war machine and standing in the way of peace talks.
Besides criticizing former President Trump, Zelensky also seemed to deliver a rare rebuke to Joe Biden, stating that the White House’s authorization for American-made missiles to target Russia didn’t go far enough because D.C. refused to allow Kyiv to use ATACMS missiles against sites within Russia’s borders.
“Is that sufficient? No. Why? Because I have given you the example of airfields from which Russia is permanently firing, in calm, knowing that Ukraine will not fire back because it has no corresponding systems and no permissions,” he said.
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