Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said former US President Donald Trump would be welcome to visit him in Kiev - as long as Trump can stop the war with Russia within 24 hours, as he once promised, Politico reported.
Trump has boasted that if he were president, he could end the war immediately, insisting that Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin come to an agreement, saying he is on good terms with both leaders. During his political career, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Putin, who in February 2022 launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
"Yes, please, Donald Trump - I invite you to Ukraine, to Kiev. If you can stop the war for 24 hours, I think that will be enough to come to Kiev, any day I'm here," the Ukrainian president said.
Zelensky added that if Trump does have a "formula" for ending the war, he wants to know what it is.
Even as Ukraine seeks to develop ties with the Republican leader and his allies ahead of November's US presidential election, the Ukrainian head of state has every reason to be wary of a man who has little appetite for continued support of Ukraine's resistance to Russian invasion.
In fact, Trump praised Putin for being "smart" by occupying "a big piece of land with a lot of people" and taking only a relatively small hit from the sanctions.
While in the White House, Trump was also impeached by the House of Representatives after it was alleged that he pressured Zelensky to pursue politically motivated investigations that could harm Joe Biden's bid for the White House.
The former president was acquitted by the Senate.
Trump currently leads Biden in polls in several key states, and Republicans are feuding over efforts to push a new tranche of aid to Ukraine through the House of Representatives.
Speaking after his landslide victory in Iowa's Republican primary this week, the former US president also said that "Russia would not attack" if he were in the White House because he and Putin "get along very well".
Speaking in Davos earlier this week at the World Economic Forum, Zelensky sought to dismiss concerns about a cut in military funding, most of which comes to Ukraine from the US, if Trump returns, arguing that "one man cannot to change the whole nation"./BGNES
