Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged US President Donald Trump to visit his war-torn country before making any decisions on ending the conflict with Russia.
In a televised interview, Zelenskyy said Trump needed to see firsthand the destruction left behind by Moscow’s invasion.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” Zelenskyy said during a CBS ’60 Minutes’ interview.
He said that a visit to Ukraine would help Trump understand the nature of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “You will understand with whom you have a deal,” he added.
Zelenskyy made clear that Trump would be free to visit any part of the country that has seen destruction. “If Trump chose to visit Ukraine, we will not prepare anything. It will not be theater,” he said. “You can go exactly where you want, in any city which (has) been under attacks.”
Zelenskyy claimed that Putin never wants to “end the war.”
“Putin can’t be trusted. I told that to President Trump many times. So when you ask why the ceasefire isn’t working – this is why,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin never wanted an end to the war. Putin never wanted us to be independent. Putin wants to destroy us completely — our sovereignty and our people.”
On the question of peace, Zelenskyy said a just resolution would be one that preserves Ukraine’s independence. “To not lose our sovereignty or our independence,” he said, vowing that Ukraine would reclaim its occupied territory. “We, no matter what, will take back what is ours because we never lost it — the Russians took it from us.”
The comments come weeks after a tense exchange at the White House in February between Zelenskyy, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance. Vance had accused Ukraine of organising “propaganda tours” for visiting foreign leaders — a charge Zelenskyy dismissed again in the interview.
Trump has been pushing for a swift resolution to the more than three-year-old war, with the US reportedly holding direct talks with both Russia and Ukraine. While Kyiv has accepted a US-backed proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, Moscow has rejected it so far.
‘A horrible thing’
After a Russian strike on Sunday in Ukraine’s Sumy that killed at least 34 people, Trump called it “a horrible thing.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing.”
The White House has not blamed Moscow for the strike. However, US secretary of state Marco Rubio offered his condolences “to the victims of today’s horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy.”
The missile strike on Sumy occurred just two days after Trump’s presidential envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, aiming to advance US-led efforts toward a possible truce.
‘Come see kids, churches, hospitals’: Zelenskyy urges Trump to visit Ukraine before ‘any negotiations’
