Zelenskyy says he's not afraid of Trump

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is not “afraid” of Donald Trump unlike other western leaders and dismissed reports that their last meeting in Washington was volatile, adding that he had good relations with the US president, the Guardian reported.

He also said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian that King Charles had helped build relations with Trump and described the British monarch as “very supportive” of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy was speaking after devastating Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid, leading to power cuts across most Ukrainian regions on Sunday, as engineers sought to restore the network. During the conversation the lights went out twice.

The Ukrainian president denied claims Trump had tossed maps of the battlefield aside in a stormy exchange in October at the White House, where he had arrived hoping to secure supplies of US Tomahawk cruise missiles. “He didn’t throw anything. I am sure,” Zelenskyy said. He described their relations as “normal”, “businesslike” and “constructive”.

According to the Financial Times, Trump had reportedly pressed Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s maximalist terms for ending the war and said the Russian leader would “destroy” Ukraine if it did not agree. Zelenskyy said the meeting unfolded differently.

The visiting Ukrainian delegation set up three stands in front of Trump and his US team, laying out successive measures including weapons and economic sanctions that would “weaken” Moscow, he said. The goal was to reduce Russia’s ability to bomb Ukraine and to force Putin to the negotiating table.

Speaking at his presidential palace in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said “everyone in the world” was afraid of Trump. “That’s the truth,” he added. Asked if that applied to him as well, he said: “No … we are not enemies with America. We are friends. So why should we be afraid?”

He said: “Trump was elected by his people. We have to respect the choice made by the American people, just as I am elected by my people. The US is our strategic partner, for many years, perhaps even decades and centuries.” The two countries had deep shared values, in contrast with an “imperialist” and revisionist Russia, he suggested.

He also revealed King Charles had played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in encouraging the US president to support Ukraine more enthusiastically, following a tempestuous Oval Office meeting on camera in February when Trump publicly browbeat Zelenskyy and kicked him out of the White House.