'Primitive idea': Zelensky reacts to Trump's 'peace' plan

He said this in an interview with Politico, Ukrinform reports.

Zelensky said he was open to hearing Trump's proposals for the war, while making clear he was highly skeptical.

"If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that's the idea behind it, then it's a very primitive idea," Zelensky said.

He also continued: "I need very strong arguments. I don't need a fantastic idea, I need a real idea, because people's lives are at stake."

Any deal that merely gave up land to Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for an end to hostilities, Zelensky said, would just open the way for more Russian wars of conquest in the future. A negotiated peace, he said, had to leave the Russian despot "no room to carry out his plans."

For several months now, Zelensky has extended a public invitation to Trump to come to Ukraine and make good on his boast that he could help end the war. In the interview, Zelensky revealed that his courtship of Trump had been even more determined in private.

"We conveyed the messages and the context through the appropriate people," he said. "We said that we would like Donald Trump to come to Ukraine, see everything with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions. In any case, I am ready to meet him and discuss the issue."

Zelensky said that Trump had conveyed his interest in accepting the invitation but had not set a date.

Still, Zelensky said he expects that a new tranche of American aid will ultimately arrive for his country. Asked if he was optimistic about that prospect, the Ukrainian president replied: "Yes, of course. I have to be."

Photo: Giorgos Moutafis for POLITICO