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\n \n Volodymyr Zelensky urged Donald Trump to share his peace plans publicly if the former US president has a way to end the war between Ukraine and Russia<\/a> \u2013 but the Ukrainian president cautioned in an interview Tuesday that any peace plan where Ukraine gives up territory would be unacceptable.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe can publicly share his idea now, not waste time, not to lose people, and say, \u2018My formula is to stop the war and stop all this tragedy and stop Russian aggression,\u2019\u201d Zelensky told CNN\u2019s Wolf Blitzer, following his speech Tuesday <\/a>at the United Nations General Assembly. \u201cAnd he said, how he sees it, how to push Russian from our land. Otherwise, he\u2019s not presenting the global idea of peace.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Ukrainian president added: \u201cSo (if) the idea is how to take the part of our territory and to give Putin, that is not the peace formula.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has claimed that he would be able to cut a deal with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. Pressed Sunday on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/a> about whether the deal would let Putin keep the land he\u2019s taken, Trump said, \u201cNo, no. I\u2019d make a fair deal for everybody. Nope, I\u2019d make it fair.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Trump, asked at the time whether it would be a win for Putin, said, \u201cYou know, that\u2019s something that could have been negotiated. Because there were certain parts, Crimea and other parts of the country, that a lot of people expected could happen. You could have made a deal. So they could have made a deal where there\u2019s lesser territory right now than Russia\u2019s already taken, to be honest.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Zelensky\u2019s trip to the United Nations comes as Ukraine is facing its stiffest headwinds in the US to date over support for the war. A faction of the House GOP conference is openly hostile to providing Ukraine with any additional military aid, and it remains unclear whether House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be willing to sign off on more funding.\n <\/p>\n \n In the interview, Zelensky gave a positive assessment of Ukraine\u2019s ongoing counteroffensive, which has sparked concerns that it\u2019s failing to achieve expected results. And he reiterated Ukraine\u2019s desire to obtain long-range missiles from the US, which President Joe Biden is still considering<\/a>, saying it would be \u201ca loss\u201d for Ukraine if they do not receive them.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are on the finishing line, I\u2019m sure of that,\u201d Zelensky said.\n <\/p>\n \n Zelensky told Blitzer that he\u2019s planning to meet with McCarthy when he travels to Washington later this week<\/a>. Asked about those skeptical of offering more funding to Ukraine, Zelensky said that it was difficult for those who have not seen war up close to compare domestic problems like civil rights or energy to the existential threat facing a country under attack.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s so difficult to understand when you are in war, and when you are not in war,\u201d Zelensky said. \u201cEven when you come to the war, to the country which is in war, when you come to one day, you can understand more than you live, you hear, you think, you read. No, you can\u2019t compare. It\u2019s different situation. That\u2019s why I\u2019m thinking we can\u2019t compare these challenges.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Biden last month asked Congress to approve an additional $24 billion in emergency spending for Ukraine and other international needs. While there\u2019s bipartisan support for the funding package in the Senate, there\u2019s no sign yet that the Republican-led House will play ball.\n <\/p>\n \n Following his speech Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, Zelensky is traveling to Washington, DC, where he will hold talks with Biden<\/a> at the White House, along with a visit to Capitol Hill. Zelensky addressed a joint meeting of Congress<\/a> in a surprise appearance last December.\n <\/p>\n \n Zelensky\u2019s trip to the Capitol this week gives him the chance to make a personal pitch to skeptical lawmakers to approve more aid for the war. The Ukrainian leader is slated to speak at an all-senators meeting, though a similar meeting is not planned for the House.\n <\/p>\n \n McCarthy, who is expected to meet with Zelensky along with other House leaders, declined Tuesday to commit to more funding for Ukraine.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWas Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don\u2019t think so. I have questions for where\u2019s the accountability on the money we\u2019ve already spent? What is this the plan for victory?\u201d the California Republican said.\n <\/p>\n \n Asked whether a major breakthrough was possible this year in Ukraine\u2019s military counteroffensive, Zelensky said, \u201cI think nobody knows, really.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBut I think that we will have more success,\u201d he said, noting gains Ukraine has made in the east.\n <\/p>\n \n Zelensky said he remained focus on obtaining more long-range missiles from the US, arguing that Ukraine did not want them to target Russia but to keep the battlefield capabilities level between the two sides.\n <\/p>\n \n Biden is expected to make a final decision soon on sending the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS, CNN reported earlier this month<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt would be a loss for us\u201d if the weapons are not provided, Zelensky said, adding it would result in \u201cmore casualties on the battlefield and elsewhere.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He also reiterated the need for more air defense systems, particularly the US-made Patriot air defense system, saying they were needed to help protect civilian areas.\n <\/p>\n \n Zelensky downplayed tensions between the US and Ukrainian officials over Ukraine\u2019s military strategy in Russian-occupied Crimea, when asked about skepticism from officials<\/a> in Washington over Ukraine ramping up missile strikes to try to disrupt Russian logistics and resupply efforts.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe think the same way,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Still, Zelensky defended the strategy.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTemporary-occupied Crimea \u2013 it\u2019s a place they store weapons to kill our civilians,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re shooting from Crimea into our territory. And of course, we have to see where their rockets are coming from, and we have to basically deal with it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n This story has been updated with additional details.<\/em>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n\n \u2018Nobody knows\u2019
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