Zelensky wins Trump’s trust over Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that following recent developments, U.S. President Donald Trump placed more trust in him than in Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

He made the remark at a briefing in New York after meeting with the U.S. president, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

Zelensky noted that Trump had previously maintained certain relations and dialogues with Putin, and that, as a result, he had trusted the information Putin shared with him about Ukraine, including claims that Russia would soon occupy all of Donbas, or even parts of Ukraine still under Kyiv's control. According to Zelensky, during their phone calls or meetings, Trump would sometimes repeat these assertions and say something had to be done about it.

However, Zelensky explained that over time Trump realized that the information he was receiving from Putin was far from the actual situation on the battlefield and far from the truth. Zelensky said that now Trump trusted him more.

As an example, he referred to the Ukrainian counteroffensive near Dobropillia in September, where Ukrainian defenders managed to liberate about 360 square kilometers of land. He stressed that the issue was not just the number of square kilometers regained, but rather the narrative spread by Russia, pointing out that victories could not be presented as losses.

According to Zelensky, this had a certain influence on Ukraine's partners.