Zelenskyy wants Trump to share his plan for ending war quickly
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Donald Trump should reveal his strategy for a rapid conclusion to the war with Russia today, assuming he has one.
Zelenskyy warned in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Kyiv that any peace proposal must avoid violating Ukraine's sovereignty.
"If Trump knows how to finish this war, he should tell us today. If there are risks to Ukrainian independence, if we lose statehood – we want to be ready for this, we want to know," he said.
Zelenskyy, who complained about delays in arms shipments from Western allies, said he was "potentially ready" to meet with Trump to listen to his team's suggestions.
"They can’t plan my life and the lives of our people and our children. We want to understand whether in November we will have the powerful support of the US, or will be all alone," he added.
Zelenskyy denied that Ukrainian and Russian troops have reached a stalemate on the battlefield. He observed that in terms of personnel, the Ukrainian military is in a stronger position than it was a few months ago, and that a new operation will require its brigades to be armed.
While Zelenskyy praised the US$61 billion aid package passed by the US Congress this year after a six-month delay, he said military equipment is taking too long to reach the front lines.
"This is the biggest tragedy of this war: that between the decision and the real fact, we have a real long, long, long wait," Zelenskyy said.
Former US president Donald Trump, who leads President Joe Biden in the polls ahead of the November election, has bragged that he could stop the war in Ukraine before his inauguration in January.
During a televised debate last week, Trump criticised the billions of dollars being spent on Ukraine's defence, claiming that Kyiv "will not win the war".
Politico has reported that the Trump administration is seriously considering making a "deal with the Kremlin" to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, which would entail denying Ukraine and Georgia NATO membership and Ukraine making territorial concessions.