Zelenskyy to Trump: Put more pressure on Putin, 'not on me'
Source: Politico (EU)
March 11, 2026 7:00 pm CET
KYIV Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants Donald Trump to turn up the heat on Vladimir Putin and stop piling pressure on him to agree to a truce after more than four years of war.
The Ukrainian leader said his people were tired, during an exclusive interview in the presidential palace in Kyiv with Gordon Repinski for POLITICO and Welt, but morale was still high and they were not ready to accept Russias ultimatums on handing over vast tracts of land in the east of the country.
Zelenskyy urged European leaders to come up with a Plan B to secure Ukraines long-term funding, to find a way to work around what he called the blackmail of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is holding up a promised EU loan of 90 billion. POLITICO reported Wednesday that some Baltic and Nordic countries have a plan to give Ukraine enough money to keep it afloat through the first half of this year, even if Orbán maintains his veto.
But when it comes to peace negotiations, Zelenskyy was clear that Trumps influence will still be key. We need negotiations. We support them, Zelenskyy said in the interview. We dont trust Russia, but I think, and I trust that Americans really want to finish with this war. I hope that they will help us, but we need more pressure on Russia, not on me.
Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/volodymyr-zelenskyy-interview-pressure-vladimir-putin/
RELATED - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143630561
blue-wave
(4,927 posts)has every right to scream this from the hilltops. Ukrainians have died and suffered in ways that are unimaginable to most people. They have earned the right to be front and center when pointing out the criminal who started this war and that the world should hold him and his lackeys accountable.
IMHO, more pressure is not enough. Make it more than enough pressure so Putin's troops are ordered to retreat. Retreat back into whatever holes they crawled out of before they started the Illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Rhiannon12866
(254,339 posts)Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down with Gordon Repinski in an exclusive interview for POLITICO and Welt, recorded in the presidential palace in Kyiv on March 11, 2026.