Former President Donald Trump has expressed interest in visiting the war-torn country and has formally extended an invitation to potential 2024 Republican candidates, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
In recent months, President Zelenskiy has publicly offered to take the 77-year-old former president on a tour of the front lines of the war with Russia, in an effort to show him the reality of the more than two-year war with Russia. The hope is that a resolution to the conflict and President Trump’s retaking of the White House will lead to more military aid to Ukraine.
“We conveyed the message and context through the right people,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with Axel Springer Media, Politico’s parent company.
“We said that we want Donald Trump to come to Ukraine, see everything with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions. In any case, I would like to meet him and discuss this issue. I’m ready to talk.” he added.
Ukraine’s president said President Trump has expressed interest in accepting the invitation, but no dates have been set for a possible visit.
The Trump campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Mr Trump is recently discussed He argued that Congress should not approve additional aid to Ukraine “unless it is done as a loan.”
The former president also claimed he would end the conflict “within 24 hours” if elected to a second term in the White House, a boast without providing any details.
Trump’s campaign vehemently denied a Washington Post report earlier this month that claimed the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee was hatching a plan for Ukraine to abandon Crimea and the Donbass region to Russia in exchange for a ceasefire.
President Zelenskiy has repeatedly said his country has no intention of surrendering territory to invading Russian forces.
“If it’s an agreement to just give up territory and that’s the idea behind it, it’s a very primitive idea,” Zelenskiy told news agency Axel Springer.
“We need a very strong argument. I don’t need fancy ideas. I need real ideas because people’s lives are at risk.”
