Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will try to wrap US President Donald Trump around his finger during a meeting, Politico reports.
Zelensky said that Ukrainians understand the Russians’ intentions to fool the United States and will not allow it. The Ukrainian president stressed that he highly values Trump’s determination to end the war, in which many lives are being lost every day.
“But the only root cause of these killings is Putin’s desire to fight and manipulate everyone he comes into contact with. We in Ukraine know Russia well, and that is why Ukrainians have already withstood more than three years of full-scale war,” Zelensky said.
Trump is trying to force Putin to end the war, and the long-awaited meeting between the two leaders is taking place on the 15th of August in Alaska. Following the meeting of US envoy Steve Witkoff with Putin in early August, there is talk that the talks could also discuss the redistribution of Ukrainian territory. This would mean that Russia could keep the occupied territories. Zelensky has rejected such an offer and called for stricter sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine’s allies in Europe are also calling for Kiyv’s position to be taken into account.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to attack along the front line and shell civilian infrastructure. On the 10th of August, the Russians bombed a bus station in Zaporizhia, injuring more than 20 civilians. Zelensky stressed that the Russians do not want to stop the killing, and their only desire is to finish off Ukraine.
The president said: “That is why sanctions are needed, pressure is needed. Power is needed — the power of the United States, first of all, the power of Europe, the power of all the nations of the world that want peace and tranquility in international relations. If Russia does not want to stop the war, then its economy must be stopped.”
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