Vladimir Putin is trying to deceive Donald Trump and the US into lifting sanctions against Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News, BNR reported.
In a conversation with Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim at the Presidential Palace in Kiev, Zelensky was asked about the summit of Russian and US leaders in Alaska last month and whether he thought it was a mistake.
“I think it gave Putin a lot and I believe that if it had been a trilateral meeting, we would have had some result”, the Ukrainian president replied.
It is alleged that during the summit in Alaska, the Russian leader told Trump that he wanted the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in return would give up other Ukrainian territories held by his troops. The US president has since renewed threats of sanctions against Russia and called on NATO countries to stop buying Russian oil in order to end the war.
Asked if Putin was trying to deceive Trump, Zelensky answered in the affirmative and added:
“He is doing everything possible to avoid sanctions, to prevent the US and Trump from imposing sanctions on him, and if you continue to delay the implementation of sanctions, the Russians will be better prepared.“
Zelensky also told Sky News that Putin “wanted to get out of political isolation“ with the Alaska summit for which he “should have paid more”, referring to the meeting with the US president.
According to Zelensky, Putin has been given the opportunity for public dialogue and this opens the doors for him to some other summits and formats.
“Putin must pay, firstly, because he started the war and secondly, because he is trying to find a way out of isolation,” Zelensky pointed out.