Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a peace framework floated by U.S. President Donald Trump could be dangerous, as he lacked the proposal’s details and had seen no sign Russia was ready to act.
In a CNN interview excerpt released Friday, Zelenskyy said he did not know all the details of the possible agreement. He described the idea as complicated and said, “it can be dangerous.”
Trump told reporters Thursday that a possible agreement would involve more than Ukraine and might involve all of Europe. Trump also confirmed a meeting with Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who had attended a White House event hosted earlier Thursday by first lady Melania Trump. Trump declined to describe what he and Dmitriev discussed.
Zelenskyy said he supports a ceasefire followed by de-escalation and characterized some of the proposals under discussion as worthwhile. Separately, he said Russia had not shown that it was ready to act.
He argued that Moscow was shifting attention toward a new European security arrangement while avoiding settlement discussions. Zelenskyy said that focus could put Europe broadly at risk, with the European Union facing greater danger than Ukraine.
At Yalta in 1945, Allied powers considered Europe’s political arrangements after the war. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was not ready for a Yalta-style format and did not want Russia to divide the country. He added that a country’s neighbors must respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity for it to be free and democratic.
