Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Donald Trump to visit Ukraine and see for himself the devastation brought by Russia’s invasion.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he said in an interview for CBS’s 60 Minutes programme, recorded before Russia’s attack on Sumy.
“You will understand with whom you have a deal.
“It will not be theatre, with preparing actors in the streets and the [city] centre,” he said, adding that it is only after the visit that Trump will “understand what Putin did”.
Zelenskyy previously invited JD Vance, Trump’s vice president, to visit Ukraine during the Ukrainian leader’s disastrous visit to the White House in February.
Trump has not explicitly responded to Zelenskyy’s offer for him to visit Ukraine, but he has been vocal about the show in which his request was aired.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump said CBS should “pay a big price” for going after him with two programmes aired yesterday on Ukraine and Greenland.