Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed former US President Donald Trump to visit Ukraine, but only on the condition that he keep his promise to “stop the war in 24 hours.”
Mr Trump has regularly boasted that if elected president, he will be able to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war, claiming that he has good contacts with the leaders of both nations.
“Yes please, Donald Trump — I invite you to Ukraine, to Kyiv,” Mr Zelensky said in an interview with Channel 4 News on Friday evening.
“If you can stop the war during 24 hours, I think it will be enough to come to Kyiv, on any day I am here.”
The war-torn country’s leader stated that he is “frightened” of Mr Trump coming to power as a result of his similar statements.
He stated that his rhetoric of ending the war in 24 hours is “very dangerous” since he will make judgments on his own and that his solution to the problem may involve handing Ukrainian territory to Vladimir Putin.
“He will make decisions on his own without — I am not even talking about Russia — but without both sides, without us,” he warned. “I’ll now talk about us. Why? Because saying something publicly is a little intimidating. Despite the fact that I have witnessed a large number of victims, it still bothers me.
“Because it means that even if his notion [of ending the conflict swiftly], which no one has heard of, does not work for us, for our people, he would do everything in his power to see it through. And this is what scares me a little,” he said.
In an interview with CNN last year, Mr Trump stated, “If I am president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours.”
“I will meet with Putin. I will meet with Zelensky. Both have problems and strengths. And within 24 hours, the conflict will be over,” he continued.
The Ukrainian president, who has good relations with Democratic leader Joe Biden, has remained leery of the Republican front-runner and his allies ahead of the US presidential election, as Republicans in Congress block emergency funds for Ukraine.
Throughout his political career, Mr. Trump has boasted about his tight and friendly ties with Mr. Putin, calling him “smart” for occupying “a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people”.
Mr. Trump, who is leading Mr. Biden in polls for a critical battleground in the election race, mentioned the crisis in Ukraine again in his post-victory speech in the Republican Iowa caucus.
He stated that if he were still president, “Russia would not have attacked” since he and the Russian leader “get along very well”.
Mr Zelensky, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, dismissed concerns that Mr Trump’s likely re-election would weaken support for Ukraine. He went on to say: “One man cannot change the whole nation” .
He also questioned the notion that Mr. Trump would be unable to control the war, stating that Mr Putin “will not stop — but the question is what will the US and Trump do after this point, because in this case, it will mean that Europe lost the most useful and strongest army in Europe because we lost Ukraine”.