- Newsmax host asked Zelensky if the Russian invasion had been prevented with Trump as president.
- Zelensky said that it is not important to determine which party holds power in the United States.
- He apologized to host Rob Schmidt for “saying something you didn’t like”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shuts down an interview with Newsmax that prompted him to say that there would be no war in Ukraine if former President Donald Trump was still president of the United States.
Newsmax anchor Rob Schmidt gave an interview to Zelensky in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on Tuesday regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Schmidt asked Zelensky: “Do you think the different American leadership, do you think the different Western leadership, might have prevented this aggression?
“There are a lot of Americans who think that if someone like Donald Trump was still in the White House, this invasion wouldn’t have happened. What’s your position?”
Zelensky responded by saying that he was grateful for the help provided by current US President Joe Biden, and that the most important thing for Ukraine is support from the American public, regardless of which party is in power.
He said, “Well, I think the most important thing is help from the people of the United States. They pay taxes, the money that goes to support Ukraine comes from taxes, and it’s all humanitarian and financial, military support for Ukraine. So I’m grateful to the current president of the United States as well as to the political parties that support us.” “.
“I’m sorry if I’m going to say something you don’t like but for us as a country at war, it doesn’t matter whether it’s Democrats or Republicans. It’s the people of the United States who support us,” he said.
“I don’t know what would happen if the president, if Donald Trump is the president of the United States for that situation, so I can’t predict what will happen,” Zelensky later added.
Zelensky said it was important that US institutions such as the Senate and Congress act in the same way, regardless of who was in power, to preserve “US values”.
Newsmax is a right-wing outlet known for its support of Trump.
Trump has previously claimed that his presence in power would have prevented Russia from invading.
said in a permit On February 24, the day Russia invaded: “If I had been in office, this fatal situation would not have happened in Ukraine!”
Trump and Zelensky have a significant political background, and the issue of US support led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Congress impeached Trump during a 2019 phone call with Zelensky when he urged the Ukrainian president to do so The investigation of Biden, his political rivaland his son Hunter Biden, apparently in exchange for military aid.