Donald Trump will be a ‘loser president’ and bring about an end to America’s status as a global leader should he decide to end aid to Ukraine if he is elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky has declared.
The Ukrainian President took aim at Trump in a scathing interview last week in which he insisted his country ‘would not put up with’ any deals made between a Trump administration and Vladimir Putin that would see Kyiv sacrifice parts of the Donbas in return for peace.
And he said that any decision to cut off weapons and support to Ukraine would have dire consequences – not only for Trump personally, but also America’s standing in the world and the influence it wields.
‘Ukraine, barehanded, without weapons, will not be able to fight a multimillion [Russian] army,’ Zelensky told the Guardian in an interview in Kyiv last week.
‘Does (Trump) want to become a loser president? Do you understand what can happen… the institutions of the United States will become very weak – the US will not be the leader of the world anymore.’
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on June 2, 2024
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower, Friday, May 31, 2024, in New York
Soldiers of the assault brigade defend the frontline, which passes through the Ukrainian border city of Vovchansk, in Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast
May 20, 2024, Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine: Ukrainian servicemen of 65th Separate Mechanized brigade operate a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher to fire towards Russian positions near the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region
Zelensky, speaking a day before a Manhattan jury convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in his ‘hush money’ trial, warned the former US president that any deal presented by Putin would be a ruse to further the Kremlin’s agenda.
‘A ceasefire is a trap,’ he said, adding that Putin would humiliate Trump by violating the terms of any deal to ‘go further’ in Ukraine and pursue his own goals.
He said that failure to continue providing Ukraine with aid and military support would degrade America’s reputation as a powerful world leader.
‘This is not about him [Trump], as a person but about the institutions of the United States. They will become very weak. The US will not be the leader of the world any more… in terms of international influence it will be equal to zero,’ the Ukrainian president declared.
He also warned a Trump decision to end US support of Kyiv could embolden other countries and groups with nefarious intentions to risk waging wars of their own.
And finally, he confirmed that he remains in close contact with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom he said he was ‘using as an instrument’ to hold informal talks with the US, and apologised for doing so.
‘I think (Johnson) tried, and I think he spoke to (Trump). I think so, yes, as far as I know.’
Ukraine’s leader concluded by inviting Trump to Kyiv, hoping that witnessing the effects of war firsthand would trigger a change of heart.
Trump has previously said he could end the war in Ukraine ‘in 24 hours’, but never specified how he planned to do so.
He has also routinely expressed concern over the Biden administration’s continued financial and military support of Kyiv’s war effort, which has proven to be a major point of contention for many Republican lawmakers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a speech after the presidential election in Moscow, Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Middle East in the State Dining room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 31, 2024
A soldier holds a rifle to the backdrop of a Soviet-era memorial as the assault brigade defend the frontline in the Ukrainian border city of Vovchansk, in Chuhuiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast
A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar at his fighting position, in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on May 23, 2024
Ukrainian soldier Oleksii of the 57th Motorized Brigade, covers his ear as a howitzer fires at a Russian position, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at an artillery position outside Kupiansk, Ukraine, April 21, 2024
Zelensky confirmed that he remains in close contact with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom he said he was ‘using as an instrument’ to hold informal talks with the US, and apologised for doing so
Zelensky has not reserved his criticism only for Trump, however.
US president Joe Biden was also targeted in a rare rebuke over the weekend when his Ukrainian counterpart said that the White House‘s decision to allow Ukraine to attack Russia with American weapons simply doesn’t go far enough.
The US last week gave Ukraine permission to use American missiles to fire at Russian positions in Kharkiv, where Moscow’s forces have in recent weeks launched renewed offensives.
But this is the only area they are allowed to fire into, and only with specific weaponry.
Speaking at Asia‘s top security summit in Singapore, Zelensky thanked Biden for allowing Ukraine to strike limited Russian territory with US arms but went on to say the imposed restrictions need to be dropped.
He said that Russia maintains the upper hand in light of the restrictions as Moscow’s troops can continue to deploy artillery and long-range weapons to batter civilian infrastructure with no fear of retaliation.
‘Is that sufficient? No. Why? Because I have given you the example of airfields from which Russia is permanently firing, in calm, knowing that Ukraine will not fire back because it has no corresponding systems and no permissions.’
‘They have these weapons there and they do not remove them because they know that Ukraine cannot target them with Western weaponry even if they fire against us,’ he said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) has criticised US president Joe Biden in a rare rebuke
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gets off his plane as he arrives to attend Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore
While Zelensky thanked Joe Biden (pictured) for allowing Ukraine to strike limited Russian territory with US arms, he said restrictions need to be dropped
Back in Ukraine, authorities imposed emergency power shutdowns in most of the country on Sunday after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure and claimed it made gains in the eastern Donetsk province.
The shutdowns were in place in all but three regions of Ukraine following Saturday’s drone and missile attack on energy targets that injured at least 19 people.
Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said the shutdowns affected both industrial and household consumers.
Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in recent weeks have forced the government to institute nationwide rolling blackouts.
Without adequate air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs, the shortages could still worsen as need spikes in late summer and the bitter-cold winter.
Among the most significant recent strikes were an April barrage that damaged Kyiv’s largest thermal power plant and a massive attack on May 8 that targeted power generation and transmission facilities in several regions.
A view of damaged residential area after Russian attack with S-300 missiles hit Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 31, 2024
Damaged car lies amid rubble after Russian missile attack on May 31, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Medics bandage the head of a wounded man after Russian shelling on May 31, 2024 in Kharkiv
Following Saturday’s barrage, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that air defences had shot down all 25 drones launched overnight.
Russia claimed Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Umanske in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.
Russia’s coordinated new offensive has centred on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, but seems to include testing Ukrainian defences in Donetsk farther south, while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
In Russia, six people were injured in shelling in the city of Shebekino in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said Sunday.
He also said that a local official, the deputy head of the Korochansky district, had been killed by ‘detonation of ammunition.’ He gave no details.
In the neighbouring Kursk region, three people were injured Sunday when an explosive device was dropped from a drone, according to acting regional head Alexey Smirnov.