Volodymyr Zelenskyy has struck an upbeat tone about Ukraine’s position in the war despite a pointed admission that the United States has given far more military support to its Middle Eastern allies than it has to Kyiv. Speaking to reporters in London, the Ukrainian president expressed gratitude for American assistance but made clear he regrets the disparity in volume of aid, particularly after the escalation of US-Israel operations against Iran.
Message to Washington
Zelenskyy acknowledged that foreign policy under Donald Trump’s second term has shifted away from Ukraine towards the Middle East. He described the situation as “a pity”, noting that Ukraine had never received the same “volume of support” as that provided to Washington’s Gulf allies and Israel after the US-Israel war against Tehran began. Despite his bruising encounter in the Oval Office and the fact that Trump has been willing to meet Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian leader carefully praised US diplomatic efforts. He said he had always told Trump directly that “Putin is lying” and that the Russian president “plays games with you, with the White House”.
War status and the strategy of long‑range strikes
Zelenskyy described the military situation as the most promising it has been for Kyiv in two and a half years. “We can’t say Russia is losing this war,” he said. “But we can say they are losing the initiative each day, day by day.” He defined victory as the moment “when Russian society recognises that the war is awful, that the war is a tragedy not for someone, somewhere, but for themselves.” To bring about that recognition, Zelenskyy outlined the purpose of Ukraine’s long‑range strikes – including drones buzzing above apartment blocks in greater Moscow and St Petersburg. The goal, he explained, is to make Russian residents “feel” what war means. By bringing the conflict directly to Russian cities, Kyiv aims to erode societal support for the Kremlin’s campaign, forcing ordinary people to confront a tragedy they have so far been able to ignore.
Views on Trump and Putin
Zelenskyy’s assessment of the US president was measured but firm. He stressed that he had consistently warned Trump about Putin’s duplicity, describing the Russian leader as someone who “plays games” with Washington. His comments came against a backdrop of ongoing diplomatic contention: his own meeting with Trump in the Oval Office was widely seen as bruising, and Trump has continued to engage directly with Putin. Nevertheless, Zelenskyy refused to criticise the White House overtly, choosing instead to emphasise the value of American diplomatic engagement even as he cautioned that Putin cannot be trusted. Victory, he reiterated, will come not from a single battlefield success but from a fundamental shift in Russian public opinion – a shift Ukraine is attempting to force through strikes that make the war impossible for Russia’s urban populations to ignore.
