Former President Donald Trump has long railed against American support for Ukraine. Now he apparently wants to travel to the country himself. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump wants to visit Ukraine. Zelenskyj said in an interview with “Bild”, “Welt”, “Politico” and other media outlets from Springer Verlag that the prospective Republican US presidential candidate had responded to an invitation to Ukraine “that he wants to, but that he doesn't know “when he can do that”. Zelensky said he hoped this would happen soon.
The US has been Kiev's main military supporter since the Russian invasion in February 2022. But since last year, Republicans in Congress have been blocking a new Ukraine aid package worth $60 billion (around 55 billion euros) under pressure from former President Trump.
Zelensky is hoping for a visit from Donald Trump – and further arms deliveries
Zelensky reiterated his call for the US Congress to clear the way for the aid. Ukraine can only defeat the Russian army with modern weapons. Russia has more people and more weapons. “But the united West has the modern weapons systems.” His country is planning a counteroffensive against the Russian invading troops. However, this requires weapons from the USA, among others.
In the interview with Springer media, Zelenskyj also repeated his criticism of Ukraine's Western allies who do not want to supply his country with certain weapons. Referring to German Taurus cruise missiles, US ATACMS short-range missiles and F-16 fighter jets, Zelensky said: “Our partners have certain weapons that we need today to survive. And I just don't understand why we don't get these weapons .”
Regarding the reasons why Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is not supplying Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles, Zelensky said: “As far as I understand it, the Chancellor says that Germany is not a nuclear power and that it is the most powerful weapon system in Germany.” Scholz therefore does not want to leave his country without this weapon system.