The Ukrainian leader claimed the feeling was mutual
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said that he hates Russian President Vladimir Putin and claimed that the feeling was mutual.
Zelensky made the comment shortly after concluding a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.
“Putin hates me,” he told reporters in Washington, DC. When a reporter asked Zelensky, “Do you hate him?” the Ukrainian leader replied that it would have been “strange” if he had a different opinion about those who “try to kill all of us.”
“I have the same attitude (towards) this man,” Zelensky said of Putin.
The Ukrainian leader backed Trump’s calls for an immediate ceasefire along the current front lines. Zelensky declined to reveal whether the US would send long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev but hinted that there had been no progress on the issue. “We have to work on it more,” he said.
Putin has said he is open to meeting Zelensky but only during the final stage of negotiations, after a peace treaty is ready for signing. At the same time, he questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy, noting that his five-year term as president expired in 2024 and that Zelensky refused to call a new election, citing martial law.
Moscow has said that, for a ceasefire to work, Ukraine must withdraw its troops from parts of Russian regions it controls, and the West must end military aid to Kiev. Putin has also demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon its plans to join NATO.
