Zelenskyy has offered multiple times to host Trump in Ukraine to see the conflict first-hand, but the former president has yet to accept
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not think former President Donald Trump fully understands the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe.
Zelenskyy reacted to the former president's past statements about the war during a Sunday interview with reporter Kaitlan Collins from CNN.
"I think Donald Trump doesn’t know Putin," Zelenskyy said in the interview. "I know he met him […] but he never fought with Putin.
TRUMP SAID HE COULD END UKRAINE WAR NEARLY A YEAR AGO BUT STILL HASN'T LAID OUT SPECIFICS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reacting as he attends a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2024. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"[The] American Army never fought with the army of Russia. Never […] I have a better understanding," he continued. "I don’t think he understands that Putin will never stop."
Trump has claimed he would be able to end the conflict in Ukraine within "24 hours" if re-elected, but has not offered a clear vision of a peace deal.
He has maintained this stance for over a year, refusing to give clear answers on how he would aim to resolve the sovereignty disputes except that he would force Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to "make a deal."
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters during an election night watch party at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina. Trump defeated opponent Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary today. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
"If Donald Trump doesn’t know whom he will support, Ukraine or Russia, I think that he will have challenges with his society because, to support Russia, it means to be against Americans," Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
However, Zelenskyy did not answer the question of who he preferred to win the upcoming presidential election — Trump or President Biden — saying it was not his place to have an opinion.
"The decision who will be the president is a decision of your society," Zelenskyy told Collins.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Zaporizhzhia region, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in Ukraine. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Zelenskyy has previously invited Trump to visit Ukraine to get an on-the-ground look at the invasion and his country's ongoing struggle to keep the Russian military at bay.
The former president has yet to accept the offer.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at
