The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressed concern about Donald Trump‘s potential return to the White House and called Trump’s assertion that he could end Ukraine’s conflict with Russia in a day “extremely dangerous.“
Zelenskyy invited the former president and front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination to visit Kiev in an interview that aired on Friday on the U.K.’s Channel 4 News—but only if Trump follows through on his pledge.
“I’d like to invite you, Donald Trump, to Kyiv, Ukraine. Zelenskyy remarked, “I think it will be enough to come if you can stop the war within 24 hours.“
When a message was sent on Saturday asking for comment, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung did not reply.
The Ukrainian leader expressed his concern regarding the United States’ unilateral actions that disregard Ukraine’s viewpoint, pointing out the lack of information regarding Trump’s “peace plan.“
Zelenskyy called the former president’s statements “very dangerous” and gave the impression that he was concerned that Trump’s proposed negotiated settlement would require Ukraine to make significant concessions to Russia.
“(Trump) will decide for himself, without consulting anyone else. Without both sides, without us—I’m not even talking about Russia—Zelenskyy remarked. It’s a little concerning if he says this in public. I’m getting a little stressed out because I’ve seen so many victims.
“Because he will do anything to implement his idea anyway, even if it doesn’t work for us, for our people, even if his idea (for ending the war) doesn’t work yet,” he continued. And I’m a little worried about this.
Trump has insisted time and time again that he is in a good position to negotiate an end to the war, which has been raging for nearly two years, and that he gets along well with both the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. He has regularly showered Russian President Vladimir Putin with praise during his political career, even following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Days after Russian tanks entered Ukraine, Trump praised Putin as a “smart” political operator and praised Russia for retaking a large, “great piece of land” so quickly at the expense of what he claimed were only minor sanctions at a campaign rally in Georgia.
The House of Representatives in the United States impeached President Trump because he had forced Zelenskyy to conduct a politically motivated investigation that could harm Joe Biden’s chances of winning the 2020 presidential election while withholding $400 million in military aid that Congress had approved to support Ukraine in its fight against separatists backed by Russia in the east of the nation.
Trump was exonerated by the Senate of the impeachment charges.
In other news, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog issued a warning on Saturday, stating that just months after a group of international inspectors reported on the removal of mines, they had been re-planted around the largest nuclear power plant in Europe—the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia.
According to a readout posted on the organization’s website, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued a warning that the presence of mines in the plant’s buffer zone, which is between its internal and external fences, is “inconsistent” with the agency’s safety standards. The readout also stated that although mines had previously been discovered in the same area, they had been removed in November by an IAEA team sent to oversee the plant’s safety.
The alleged mine-planting by Russian forces, who have controlled the Zaporizhzhia plant since the early weeks of the war, was referred to as “another crime” by the head of Ukraine’s state nuclear company on Saturday.
According to Energoatom’s Petro Kotin, the situation at the plant “will remain fragile and dangerous as long as the Russians remain there,” according to a Telegram update.
One of the top ten nuclear power plants in the world, the IAEA has frequently voiced concern that the war may result in a possible radioactive leak from the facility. Even though the plant’s six reactors have been off for months, it still requires electricity and trained personnel to run critical safety features like cooling systems.
Russian forces also shelled the southern Ukrainian town of Huliaipole on Saturday, injuring a local while he was standing in his yard, according to a post made on Telegram by the governor of the area, Yuriy Malashko.
Regional Ukrainian officials had earlier that day reported that Russian forces had shelled the southern Kherson region on Friday and overnight, resulting in one civilian death and three injuries.
According to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s Telegram post, an exploding drone crashed into a gas pipeline near the Ukrainian border in southern Russia. Gladkov added that no one was harmed and that the attack was carried out by Ukraine.
