BREAKING: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy breaks his silence on Donald Trump's disastrous outburst in the White House with astonishing grace and class - but refuses to apologize to Trump as MAGA (Make America Great Again) demands.
And the best part? He did it on Fox News.
Now that's what a true world leader sounds like...
“President Trump said after your meeting that you did not respect him, the vice president or the whole of America in the White House,” Bret Baier of Fox News said when Zelenskyy appeared on his show. ”Do you think that is the case? And do you think you owe President Trump an apology?”
“Thank you very much. First of all, thank you for the invitation, for this dialogue and good evening to your entire country, to all Americans,” Zelenskyy said. ”I am very grateful to the Americans for all your support. You have done a lot. I am grateful to President Trump and the bipartisan support of Congress, and I have always been very grateful to all of you.”
“You have helped us enormously from the start, here in three years of large-scale invasion. You have helped us to survive and we are at least strategic partners,” he continued.
“And even in such a difficult dialog - and I think we have to be very honest and direct to understand each other, because that is very necessary for us,” said Zelenskyy.
“To President Trump - and with all due respect that he wants to end this war - but no one wants to end this war more than us, because in Ukraine we are in this war, we are in this fight for freedom, for our lives,” he continued.
“So I'm just saying that I think we should be on the same side and I hope the president is on our side, with us, and that's very important to stop Putin,” Zelenskyy continued. ”And I've often heard from President Trump that he will stop the war and I hope he will. And we have to put pressure on him with Europe, with all the partners.”
“And I think this dialogue should have taken place a little earlier to understand where we stand,” he continued. ”As you know, I don't remember exactly, but as President Reagan said, peace is not just the absence of war.”
“Yes, we are talking about just and lasting peace, about freedom, about justice, about human rights, and that is why I said 'I think so' about the ceasefire,” he continued. ”And you know, Mr. Putin, in all these years, ten years, he has violated the ceasefire twenty-five times.”
“So I don't hear you, Mr. President, saying that you owe the president an apology,” said Baier, clearly trying to appease Trump, who was almost certainly watching at home.
“No, I have respect for the president and I have respect for the American people and if - I don't know, I think we should be very open and honest and I'm not sure if we did anything wrong,” Zelenskyy replied.
“I think we should perhaps discuss things outside the media, with all due respect for democracy and a free media, but there are things about which we need to understand the position of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” he added. ‘And I think that is the most important thing.’
“We are partners. We are very close partners. We must be honest. We must be very free,” said Zelenskyy, who today sounded much more like an American president than Donald Trump.
This is an astonishing display of statesmanship. Instead of giving in to ego or pettiness, Zelenskyy rises above Donald Trump's childish bullying to serve his people.
Zelenskyy is not interested in following Trump down the gutter. He is interested in securing a lasting peace for his innocent, beleaguered country, a task made even more difficult by Trump's kowtowing to Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy is also right that these talks should take place behind closed doors instead of being exploited to create a media circus. Trump and Vance ambushed him in the Oval Office in front of reporters because they knew this would make headlines and entertain their supporters.
They are not serious leaders. Zelenskyy is.
Translation from Dutch (original language) to English by Deepl. Translate.
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