Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy forcefully rejected any equivalence between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Sunday television interview, while urging President Donald Trump to maintain firm support for Kyiv amidst deteriorating diplomatic relations.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy offered a sharp defense of his country’s war effort and warned against American concessions to Moscow. His comments came in direct response to recent remarks by Trump that appeared to place the Ukrainian leader and the Russian president on similar footing.
“We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s aggressor. He occupied us,” Zelenskyy said during the broadcast. Calling Putin a terrorist who killed adults and children, the Ukrainian president added, “And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.”
Tensions between Washington and Kyiv have intensified over the past several weeks as Trump has increasingly criticized the Ukrainian leadership. Late last week, Trump asserted that he finds Zelenskyy more difficult to deal with than Putin and called for Ukraine to hold new leadership elections. Zelenskyy has previously stated he is open to holding elections on the condition that Russia pauses its attacks for 60 days, a position he reaffirmed on Sunday.
Zelenskyy suggested that the friction in his relationship with the U.S. president stems from his refusal to sugarcoat policies that he believes harm Ukraine. “I can’t applaud any decisions or any words of one or another leader if they go against Ukraine, if they are supportive for Russia, and directly for Putin,” he said. He defended his candid approach, adding that it is better to have open partners than leaders who are killers with a smile on their faces, even if that honesty does not align with what the U.S. president wants to hear. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the interview.
The public friction coincides with a significant shift in U.S. policy toward Moscow. On Friday, just two days before a scheduled implementation deadline, Trump signed an executive order waiving nearly all sanctions mandated by the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act. The move effectively permitted Moscow to bypass severe financial restrictions that Congress had designed to create leverage for forcing Putin into peace negotiations.
This executive action drew immediate bipartisan backlash from lawmakers, with some warning that the decision might violate the law. Zelenskyy revealed on Sunday that he learned of the major policy shift through news reports, warning that it would embolden the Kremlin rather than advance peace.
“I don’t know all the reasons why President Trump made such deals with Putin. But it doesn’t look that all these steps will push us to peace. I think oppositely. It will strengthen Putin in his will to occupy us, and it’s not helpful,” Zelenskyy stated.
Despite the strains in bilateral ties, Zelenskyy maintained that Ukraine continues to trust the United States and Trump, though he acknowledged the stark reality of the military situation. He emphasized that winning the ongoing war without sustained American backing would prove exceptionally difficult.
“If the United States will support Putin, I mean, it’s unbelievable. It’s a tragedy. It’s a historic mistake and a big tragedy,” Zelenskyy said, noting that a U.S. alignment with Russia would prevent Ukraine from prevailing or standing on its own.
