Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country wants a common understanding with the US that Russia is the "aggressor" in the war, emphasising that Kiev views Washington as a key strategic partner.
“We know that the United States has a mediator position in this conflict. And this is the choice that the United States made,” he said in an interview with American journalist Ben Shapiro cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
“But we consider the United States as a strong strategic partner that has influence,” he said.
“We would very much like these two forces to be used in relation to Russia, so that the force is directed at Russia, because it is Russia that is the aggressor. And we would very much like to have a common understanding that Russia is the aggressor, not us.”
Zelenskyy acknowledged US President Donald Trump’s approach to a different path for a resolution.
“I understand what President Trump wants.
I very much respect the fact that he is looking for an approach. This is his approach,” he said, while stressing that Ukraine does not want Washington to “look for balance in these words.”
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine has been transparent with the US regarding the use and improvement of weapon systems, highlighting how Ukrainian experts enhanced several technologies in coordination with US partners.
“Everything that Ukraine used, Ukraine reported to the United States, and Ukraine improved many elements and specifications through our engineers, our people on the ground,” he said.
According to the president, the US received honest and valuable information based on “the largest land war in many years,” enabling Washington to better understand future investment needs.
“I know these conclusions, but this is not public information, but the United States received this knowledge, this data, and this knowledge could not have been obtained without real operations,” he added.
Zelenskyy noted that part of the $105 billion in US aid was used to develop new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and that these efforts contributed to joint military-technical advancements.
“This is what scientists, intelligence, military engineers worked on, what the United States worked on. When the United States paid for these developments, the United States received full and open information about the drones. This is a new weapon that was not available to the United States…Now the United States has received all this experience, all this development,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will disregard any peace talks between Washington and Moscow that sideline Kiev.
