A president struck by the grace of peace? Volodymyr Zelensky believes that his meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the Vatican, on April 26 during the funeral of Pope Francis, had benefits. “I am confident that after our meeting at the Vatican, President Trump began to see things a little differently,” he told a small group of journalists on Friday evening.
“I think we have had the best conversation with President Trump we have had so far. It was perhaps the shortest, but the most relevant. With all the respect I owe to our teams, the head-to-face format, in my opinion, worked. We had the ideal atmosphere for the conversation itself, “praised the Ukrainian president, referring to his stormy interview in the oval office at the end of February, during which US vice-president JD Vance had multiplied the attacks against him, under the approving gaze of Donald Trump, and more and more accusing words.
During the weeks that had followed, the American president had not failed to scratch his Ukrainian counterpart, to the point that the latter had called him to come to Ukraine to realize the continuous assault experienced by the population since February 2022.
Video“Come see”: Zelensky calls Trump to go to Ukraine
At the end of these 15 minutes in the Vatican basilica, the spokesperson for the White House, Steve Cheung, had praised a “very productive” conversation. Since then, Donald Trump has seemed to build his speech towards Vladimir Putin. According to Zelensky on Friday evening, the imposition of additional sanctions against Russia was even mentioned during the tête-à-tête, without lifting disagreement from the American president. “I mentioned the issue of American sanctions. I will not enter into the details, but what he told me seems very firm ”.
-During this interview with the press, Zelensky said he did not want to “play” with the short truces proposed by Vladimir Putin, the last being a stop of the fights from May 8 to 10. “It is impossible to agree on something in three, five or seven days. Let’s be honest. It is a theatrical performance on his part (at Vladimir Putin, editor’s note). In two or three days, it is impossible to find a plan to establish the next steps to finish the war. It does not seem serious, ”swept the Ukrainian president.
“No one will help Putin playing this kind of game to give a sweet atmosphere to its exit from isolation on May 9, and to make it comfortable and safe the leaders, friends and partners of Putin who will come to the Red Square, for a reason or another,” he hoped.
Moscow invited many heads of state
This year, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory Day, which marks in Russia the capitulation of Nazi Germany, the Kremlin invited many heads of state. Chinese presidents Xi Jinping and Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva notably replied “present”.
Moscow may fear an action by Ukrainian services which have demonstrated their ability to target personalities in Russian territory, especially in December by eliminating a senior Russian army official in Moscow, using a trapped scooter.
Zelensky reiterated his support for the American proposal to agree on a 30 -day truce, and his desire to decide anytime. “Either we are at war, or Putin shows that he is ready for a ceasefire and at the first phase of the end of the war. We are ready to start the 1st, 3 or 5. If it wants it to be 7, it doesn’t matter: it should be in 30 days from 7, then. “
