Russian leader Vladimir Putin is eyeing NATO countries for future invasion even as he talks with the Trump administration about ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukraine’s president warns.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he won’t accept a peace deal imposed on Ukraine if Kyiv has no role in crafting it. But he admitted Ukraine will struggle to defeat Russia if President Donald Trump cuts off U.S. support.
“We will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which aired Sunday.
Zelenskyy told host Kristen Welker that Ukraine had gathered intelligence showing that Russia was preparing training exercises that could include some 150,000 troops — mainly on the soil of Belarus, a Kremlin ally.
He warned that such exercises could be a pretext for attacks on NATO countries such as Lithuania and Poland, perhaps even by this summer.
But Zelenskyy’s remarks were caveated. The intelligence didn’t indicate directly that Putin will stage actual attacks, he noted.
Still, Putin has grandiose ambitions, a hostility toward NATO, and an awareness of the Trump administration’s skepticism of the military alliance. The Russian leader may calculate the time is ripe to make moves, at least against former Soviet states now in the alliance, Zelenskyy said.
Ultimately, “We believe that Putin will wage war against NATO,” Zelenskyy said, adding: “I don’t know they will want 30 percent of Europe, 50 percent, I don’t know. Nobody knows. But they will have this possibility.”
Trump recently announced the U.S. would hold talks with Russia about ending the war in Ukraine. But he and his aides have sent mixed messages about exactly what role Kyiv would play in this process.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainians would not accept a deal they didn’t help shape. “I’m sure that we have to be there. Otherwise, it’s not acceptable,” he said.
He also said he warned Trump that Putin is not trustworthy.
“I said to him, ‘No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want any peace,’ Zelenskyy said.
