Steps were taken to persuade Ukraine to capitulate, Volodymyr Zelensky said...

Steps were taken to persuade Ukraine to capitulate, Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Bloomberg.

In addition, the Ukrainian president said that the United States is delaying deliveries of Patriot missiles.

The interview was published two hours before Trump's latest tweet.

Key points.

▪️My latest proposal was this: we do not strike Russian diesel, and you give us missiles for Patriot systems to protect our infrastructure. But they just want us to stop striking diesel. And if we strike, they cut us off from something.

▪️I believe steps were taken to persuade Ukraine to capitulate. I am not saying that our partners are pursuing that goal; I do not want to think that American partners believe the war could end sooner at Ukraine's expense. But that is how it looks.

▪️[On delays in Patriot missiles, some of which were not delivered]. We paid for these weapons, including anti-ballistic missiles, under the PURL program. Some of these deliveries were approved, and some were not. And this is not a technical problem.

▪️The United States is now supplying Ukraine with about 12 Patriot interceptors a month, roughly a quarter of what was supplied under Biden. And under Biden, they were supplied free of charge.

▪️[On attempts to improve relations between the United States and Ukraine]. I think that when the potential risks for Ukraine are comparable to a tsunami, someone must intervene while it is still a moderate storm. I am sure that much more is at stake than the diesel deal.

▪️[On relations with the United States after the congressional elections]. Politics are very aggressive during elections. I think this is agony now, but after the elections life will go on and, I believe, it will be calmer.

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At the same time, Zelensky remains in close contact with special envoys Witkoff and Kushner. Today they discussed another meeting, probably next week, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg.com

Zelenskyy Says Trump Is Pushing Ukraine to Yield to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Donald Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, escalating a week-long row with the US president.