Ukrainian President Volodymyr shared on Friday what he told President Donald Trump in a recent conversation about Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The Context
Zelensky's remarks, which he made at the Munich Security Conference, came after Trump and Putin spoke on the phone and decided that the U.S. and Russia would together decide Ukraine's fate, effectively sidelining Ukraine.
Trump relayed the conversation to Zelensky in a subsequent call.
The same day, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivered another blow to Ukraine when he said the U.S. will no longer prioritize Ukrainian and European security and that the U.S. doesn't think Ukraine joining NATO is a "realistic outcome" of the war with Russia.
What To Know
Zelensky said he warned Trump that Putin's statements about wanting a ceasefire are insincere and added that Ukraine should be involved in peace talks over its own future.
"Trump said to me that Putin wants to stop the war," Zelensky told reporters while speaking on a security cooperation panel at the Munich Security Conference. "I said to him, 'Putin is a liar. I hope that you will pressure him because I don't trust him.'"
"We had a direct conversation with Putin about a ceasefire in 2019," the Ukrainian leader added, referring to when Ukraine and Russia negotiated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in connection to Russia's invasion of the eastern Donbas region. Russia violated the ceasefire multiple times.
Zelensky also said that while he believes Trump is "stronger" than Putin, "these phone calls with Putin are risky to us."
"He will not stick to ceasefire and that's all," the Ukrainian president said of Putin. "That is why I told the president that I think phone calls are phone calls. But don't make any decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine. And it is not about me, it is about the entire country. If we agree on a pause, it will help Putin. And I don't want to go in history as president who helped Putin to occupy my country."
Moscow, meanwhile, took a victory lap after Hegseth's NATO comments and Trump's phone call with Putin.
Some commentators noted that Trump had spoken with Putin before Zelensky. One Russian lawmaker said on Telegram that Putin's conversation with Trump "broke the West's blockade," while another called it a "day of good news."
What People Are Saying
Trump described his call with Putin on Truth Social: "We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects. We both reflected on the Great History of our Nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and we, likewise, lost so many! We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE.'"
Putin told officials on January 21: "[There] should not be a brief truce, not some kind of respite for the regrouping of forces and rearmament with a view to a subsequent continuation of the conflict."
What Happens Next
Zelensky said he will not meet with Putin unless Ukraine and the U.S. settle on a common negotiation plan.
"It's important that everything does not go according to Putin's plan, in which he wants to do everything to make his negotiations bilateral [with the U.S.]," Zelensky told reporters.
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About the writer
Sonam Sheth is an Evening Politics Editor at Newsweek who is based in New York. She joined Newsweek in 2024 ... Read more