Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky claimed he is “willing to do whatever it takes” to end his country’s war with Russia as he prepared to meet with President Trump in Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
Russia brutally bombarded Ukraine in the days leading up to the powwow with more than 2,100 drone attacks, close to 800 guided aerial bombs and 94 missiles, Ukrainian officials said.
“Ukraine did not start this war. Russia started it,” wrote Zelensky, who last met with Trump in person Oct. 17, on X on Saturday. “Ukraine supported President Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire. Ukraine has agreed to many different compromises.
“Ukraine is willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war. For us, priority number one – or the only priority – is ending the war. For us, the priority is peace. We need to be strong at the negotiating table,” Zelensky said.
On Saturday alone, Russia hammered Ukraine with 500 drone and 400 missile strikes, knocking out power in parts of the capital, Kyiv.
At least one person was killed and 27 wounded during the assault, officials said.
Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin meanwhile issued a chilling ultimatum Saturday implying that he will carry on the horrific war until Ukraine surrenders to everything he’s demanded.
“If Ukraine does not want to resolve everything peacefully, Russia will resolve all its objectives by military means,” Putin said, according to a translation.
The Russians have demanded that Ukraine cede its hold on all of the Donbas region, where Kyiv controls strategically important cities and Moscow rules over the bulk of the land mass.
Ukraine has been reluctant to give up any territory not lost on the battlefield and sees the slice of land it still retains in the Donbas as critical to its national security, fearing that without it, the Russians could have an easier time cutting deeper into its smaller neighbor in a future attack.
Ukrainian negotiators have met with Trump’s team for weeks and helped transform a Russia-friendly 28-point peace plan into a more equitable 20-point plan.
Zelensky told reporters late last week that the 20-point plan is 90% finished but that key details such as territory questions, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and security guarantees are the unresolved points.
The Ukrainian leader has publicly emphasized “the key is that Russia must not sabotage this diplomacy and must take ending the war 100% seriously.
“If it doesn’t, then additional pressure on Russia must follow,” Zelensky posted on X last week. “The world has all the instruments needed to make that pressure effective and ensure that peace is achieved.”
Ending the brutal war, which will mark its four-year anniversary inFebruary, has been one of Trump’s top foreign policy objectives.
During an interview with The Post last Friday, Trump conveyed optimism that there could be a breakthrough during his talks with Zelensky.
“Well, I think we have a good shot at it,” Trump told The Post. “I think [Ukrainian officials] want to do it now, and I think that Russia wants to do it. But every time one wants to do it, the other doesn’t.”
-With Post Wires
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