Donald Trump hits out at Zelenskyy in scathing comment days before meeting with Putin
Donald Trump has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of his highly-anticipated meeting with Vladimir Putin this week.
The US leader announced over the weekend that he would be meeting Putin on Friday 15 August in 'the great state of Alaska'.
It came after comments that he would 'probably' meet the Russian President, as peace talks with regards to the Russia-Ukraine deal have come to no solution so far.
Trump, who has continued to be open with the media about his talks with both leaders, claimed that the road would be 'long' to reach a mutual agreement last week, though he has now specifically mentioned Ukraine in his comments and what may need to happen to their borders.
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Stating that they may need to 'redraw borders' to achieve piece, the 79-year-old claimed he would 'try to get back' some of the nation's 'oceanfront property' from Russia when he meets with Putin.
Trump had some choice words for Zelenskyy, after the Ukrainian leader responded to his comments about potentially giving up territories, calling them 'stillborn decisions against peace'.
He also said that the conflict could not truly be ended without Ukraine at the table.
The American leader insists that 'land swapping' is key to ending the war, and said that he 'very severely' disagreed with Zelenskyy's handling of the war.
He said it 'never should have happened', adding: “I was a little bothered by the fact Zelenskyy was saying ‘I have to get constitutional approval’.
“He’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody? But he needs approval to do a land swap?”
Also during the press conference, which lasted over an hour, Trump said he would call Zelenskyy after his meeting with Putin.
“I’ll be there if they need,” the US leader claimed.
Admitting that he would only call if a 'fair deal' was on the table, he speculated: “I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting’, or I may say, ‘we can make a deal’,” he said.
Zelenskyy is said to be part of a call between several European leaders with Trump in what is thought to be his last attempt to put his case for Ukraine forward.
European nations are pushing for any conditions of a ceasefire to include a 680-mile long front line, urging Trump not to give Putin any more land.
Last week, Trump spoke about crucial discussions which needed to be had with Ukraine.
He explained: "Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for 3 1/2 years ... you know, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died.
"So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back.
"There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we'll be talking about that either later or tomorrow," he said at the time.
Topics: Donald Trump, Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, World News
Joshua Nair