Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview published Wednesday that presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump should reveal his secret plan to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
The request came following Trump's claim during last week's U.S. presidential debate that he would "have the war settled" by the time he took office on January 20, if elected in November. The former president has claimed repeatedly that he would meet with Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin and end the war "within 24 hours" or within "one day."
Trump hasn't revealed details of his proclaimed plan, leading Zelenskyy to express concern that it would be a deal favorable to Russia.
"If Trump knows how to finish this war, he should tell us today," Zelenskyy told Bloomberg Television in the Wednesday interview. "If there are risks to Ukrainian independence, if we lose statehood—we want to be ready for this, we want to know."
"We want to understand whether in November we will have the powerful support of the U.S., or we'll be all alone," Zelenskyy added.
Though Trump has not disclosed his plan to quickly end the war, reports indicate that it involves ceding Ukranian territory to Russia. He's said privately that he would pressure Ukraine to give up land, The Washington Post reported in April. Last week, Trump was said to broadly approve of a plan written by two of his key advisers to reach a cease-fire agreement based on prevailing battle lines, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian officials have rejected that idea: Putin violated international law in invading Ukraine, so Russia can't be ceded the territory it's illegally gained, they argue.
Trump, who was president from 2017 until 2021, has for many years made fond, if inconsistent, remarks about Putin, even calling him a "genius" not long after the Russian president's launch of a full-scale incursion into Ukraine in 2022. Trump's history with Zelenskyy, on the other hand, is a complicated one: A phone call between the two world leaders was at the center of Trump's first impeachment proceedings in 2019 and early 2020.
Foreign policy experts have expressed concern that if Trump returns to power, he will abandon Ukraine. Many Republicans don't support continued military aid to the country, and party representatives delayed and obstructed the latest package, though it did ultimately pass, along with military aid for Israel and Taiwan, in late April.
Trump's remarks during last week's debate did little to reassure critics who say he's weak in his support for Ukraine. He criticized President Joe Biden for spending profligately on the war, which he said Ukraine was "not winning," and implied that Democrats were in the thrall of Zelenskyy.
"Every time that Zelenskyy comes to this country, he walks away with $60 billion," Trump said. "He's the greatest salesman ever."
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