Trump says Zelensky ‘must be realistic’ in calls for Russia deal

MADRID, December 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –

United States President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, “must be realistic” as part of negotiations for a deal with Russia to end the Russian invasion launched in February 2022.

“It has to be realistic. And I wonder how long it will take for the elections to take place,” he said from the White House, from where he said that 82 percent of the Ukrainian population “demands that an agreement be reached” because they are “losing thousands and thousands of people every week”: “They want this to end.”

The White House resident stressed that his administration “is spending a lot of time and effort” on these conversations because he wants “this to stop.” “There’s a lot going on right now. A lot of people are saying it’s closer than ever (…) I think we’re going to resolve it in a very short time,” he said.

He explained that he had a telephone call with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom – “very good friends” – with whom he spoke “about Ukraine very firmly”, while acknowledging that he was waiting for “answers before moving forward”.

According to him, European leaders asked him to attend a meeting this weekend in Europe, but he refused to attend until there were “results” because he did not want to “waste time.” “Sometimes you have to let people fight, sometimes you don’t. But the problem is that thousands of people are lost. It’s ridiculous,” he added.

Trump’s statements came shortly after a US delegation held talks with the Ukrainian delegation during the day on the reconstruction and economic recovery of kyiv, amid a new attempt at rapprochement.

In fact, Zelensky stressed that kyiv has already updated its views on the points of the framework document for the end of the war, emphasizing that “comprehensive security will define economic security and support a safe business environment.” He also added that they had agreed on “the next contacts between the teams.”

“As always, there will be no delays from Ukraine. Ukraine is working to achieve results,” he said, according to a statement from the Ukrainian presidency, where he announced that he was preparing a meeting with the Coalition of the Volunteers for this Thursday.

On the other hand, Zelensky confirmed that he contacted Ukrainian lawmakers about the possibility of holding elections under martial law, after accusations regarding his alleged intention to cling to power.

“We had a substantive conversation. I will not allow any speculation. If our partners, including our key partner in Washington, talk so much and so concretely about elections in Ukraine, elections under martial law, we must offer Ukrainian legal answers to all questions and doubts,” he said.

In this sense, he maintained that “it is not easy” and that they do not need “any pressure in this regard.” If he asked the deputies to present proposals in this direction, he stressed that the security challenges depend on their partners, in particular the United States.