The key facts

  • Zelensky urged Trump to use harsh rhetoric toward Putin rather than toward him
  • Trump previously called Zelensky an obstacle to peace and criticized strikes on Russian energy
  • Zelensky says he asked Trump to arrange an energy ceasefire, but Putin refused

Zelensky urged Trump to change the target of his criticism

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with British podcaster Steven Bartlett, said that Donald Trump could 'very easily' force Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. According to Zelensky, Trump should direct at the Russian president the same rhetoric he uses against him. He gave this answer when asked whether there is a realistic path to ending the war in Ukraine.

Context of Trump's claims against Kyiv

Trump has recently claimed that it is Zelensky who is the obstacle to peace in Ukraine, and urged the Ukrainian leader to strike a deal with Putin or nominate another negotiator. He also criticized Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, believing that attacks on oil refineries could worsen the fuel shortage in the world and hurt American farmers and ranchers.

Zelensky's responses to the accusations

Zelensky noted that the US has already approved the latest sanctions against Russia, and Trump could apply them if he wished. However, in his view, Trump's 'special relationship' with Putin may be the reason for reluctance to impose these measures. He also stated that the volumes of diesel fuel Russia will supply under the recent agreement with Washington are insufficient to affect prices in the US, and that Kyiv's strikes on Russian energy are a response to Moscow's strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.

On the energy ceasefire and fuel prices

Zelensky said he asked Trump to at least arrange an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but without success. 'Putin refuses his request. Then the president (Trump) decides to place this problem not on Putin but on me, explaining to his citizens that this is exactly why the price of diesel fuel in America is rising. This is absolutely untrue,' Anadolu quoted Zelensky as saying. He added that Trump 'changes the context,' and that this is unfair, and also seeks to divert attention from events in the Middle East. According to the publication, transit through the Strait of Hormuz remains sharply reduced since the start of the war with Iran in late February, which affects world oil prices.