Kenya Insights

Tag: Volodymyr Zelensky

  • Putin Rejects Zelensky Meeting Proposal

    Putin Rejects Zelensky Meeting Proposal

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyin the near future, saying there is no reason for direct talks until the terms of a peace agreement are worked out.

    Putin made the remarks on Friday at an economic forum in Saint Petersburg, a day after Zelensky publicly called for a face-to-face meeting to end the four-year war between the two countries.

    “I see no point in meeting. “Let the experts work, develop some solutions, and then we can meet,” Putin said.

    The Russian leader maintained that military operations will continue until Moscow achieves its objectives in Ukraine.

    “Military actions will end some day, we assume. Without a doubt, they will end once we have achieved the goals we have set for ourselves,” Putin stated.

    Russia has continued to demand control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, alongside political and military restrictions on Kyiv. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected those demands, describing them as unacceptable.

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Credit: Genya SAVILOV / AFP

    On Thursday, Zelensky directly appealed to Putin to hold talks.

    “Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us — and you. I am proposing a meeting,” Zelensky said in his message.

    The Ukrainian leader’s proposal has received support from several Western leaders, including Donald Trumpand Emmanuel Macron. Zelensky is also expected to meet Macron, Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz in London as efforts to revive peace negotiations continue.

    Beyond the conflict, Putin used the forum to dismiss concerns about Russia’s economy despite the impact of war-related spending and Western sanctions.

    “We, of course, hear criticism from all sides that everything has collapsed,” Putin said, insisting that Russia was pursuing a “sovereign” economic path.

    The war, which began in February 2022, has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and devastated large areas of eastern and southern Ukraine. Despite ongoing international efforts to broker peace, the latest exchange between the two leaders suggests that a direct meeting remains unlikely in the immediate future.

  • Ukraine Will Provide Drone Protection Support In Middle East At US Request, Zelensky Says

    Ukraine Will Provide Drone Protection Support In Middle East At US Request, Zelensky Says

    The United States and its Middle Eastern allies are turning to Ukraine for guidance on how to counter Iran’s Shahed drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.

    According to Zelensky, several countries – including the US – have recently asked Kyiv for assistance in defending against the Iranian-made drones. He added that, in the past few days, he has spoken with leaders from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait about potential cooperation.

    Tehran has fired hundreds of drones at US targets in neighbouring countries after ​the ‌US and Israel began a massive campaign of air strikes ⁠against Iran on Saturday.

    During its war with Russia, Ukraine has developed highly effective means of downing the ‌Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drone, which Moscow has been using for much ⁠of the four-year war.

    “We received a request from the United States for specific support in protection against ‘Shaheds’ in the Middle East region,” Zelenskiy wrote ​in English on the X social media platform.

    “I gave instructions ‌to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security.”

    To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

    The US had requested assistance in protecting its bases and soldiers ‌in certain countries in the region, according to a source familiar with the matter, who said Zelensky ​had instructed his military to do so.

    Ukrainians would start work “in the next few days”, the source said.

    In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, US President Donald ​Trump said that he would take assistance from any country when asked ​about Zelensky’s offer of support to help defend against ​Iranian drones.

    Zelensky expressed concern earlier this week that the war in Iran – if it proves long and intense – ​could diminish weapons supplies to Ukraine from its Western allies, in particular the air defence systems it needs to protect against Russian missiles.

    In recent months, Ukraine has already experienced shortages of the US-made Patriot air defence systems, which are the only effective weapon in ⁠its arsenal for downing Russia’s ballistic missiles.

    On Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine would be open to exchanging ⁠interceptor drones for ​air defence missiles from the Middle East allies, which have their own stocks of Patriots.

    (FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)

  • Putin Has Already Started World War III, Zelensky Says

    Putin Has Already Started World War III, Zelensky Says

    Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has declared that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has “already started” what could amount to a third world war, warning that Ukraine is currently standing as the frontline defence against a broader global conflict.

    He made this comment on X on Monday while addressing the escalating tensions sparked by Russia’s invasion of his country. Zelensky said there are ‘different views on World War III,’ but stressed his personal conviction that the conflict is already underway.

    “There are different views on World War III. I believe Putin has already started it,” he said.

    The Ukrainian leader framed the ongoing war not merely as a regional conflict, but as a battle with far-reaching global implications.

    He posed what he described as the central question for the international community: ‘How much territory can he seize, and how to stop him?”

    Zelensky argued that the stakes go beyond preventing a Russian military victory. According to him, the deeper concern is Moscow’s broader ideological ambition.

    “Not to prevent Russia from winning, but because Russia wants to impose its own world and change people’s lives, which they like and choose for themselves,” he said.

    Reiterating his long-held position, Zelensky added: “That is why I believe, and have long believed, that Putin has already started this war.”

    He maintained that Ukraine’s resistance is serving as a barrier against a wider international confrontation.

    “And we are preventing him from turning this into a broader, full-scale World War III. Today, we are the outpost stopping Putin,” the Ukrainian president stated.

    Zelensky’s remarks come amid continued fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces, with global powers closely monitoring developments due to fears of further escalation.

    The war between Russia and Ukraine has led to widespread deaths and destruction.

    Despite repeated meetings between the two countries aimed at ending the conflict, no resolution has been reached to bring it to a complete halt.

  • Russia Will Expand Aggression Beyond Ukraine If Not Stopped, Zelensky Warns

    Russia Will Expand Aggression Beyond Ukraine If Not Stopped, Zelensky Warns

    Vladimir Putin “will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper” if he is not stopped, Ukraine’s President Zelensky has warned.

    Speaking at the UN’s General Assembly in New York, Zelensky said more countries would be met with Russian aggression unless allies displayed a united front and ramped up support.

    He said all nations were threatened by a global arms race, as military technology advances, adding that “weapons decide who survives” and calling for global rules on AI.

    His comments come after US President Donald Trump shifted his position on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying for the first time that Ukraine could win back all of its land.

    Zelensky criticised international institutions, suggesting they are “too weak” to offer Ukraine safety guarantees, adding – in apparent reference to Nato – that being part of a long-standing military alliance “doesn’t automatically mean you are safe”.

    “We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history,” he said.

    He argued that “stopping Russia now” was cheaper than “wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead”.

    Zelensky called for international rules around AI and its role in weaponry, and said the development of autonomous drones and unmanned planes represented a far greater risk than traditional warfare.

    The Ukrainian leader also warned that Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova – which lies between Ukraine and EU-member Romania – to Russian influence. He said the West had missed a chance to save Georgia and Belarus from Putin’s orbit.

    On Thursday the pro-EU president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, accused the Kremlin of “pouring hundreds of millions of euros” into Moldova in an attempt to instigate violence and spread fear.

    Voters in the former Soviet republic go to the polls on Sunday, amid what a BBC investigation found to be a barrage of disinformation spread by a network with ties to Moscow.

    Last week, Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members after Russia violated its airspace in separate incidents. Romania, another Nato member, also said Russian drones breached its airspace.

    Earlier on Tuesday, following his speech to the UN, Trump said Nato nations should shoot down Russian planes breaching their airspace, following the recent incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones.

    Zelensky praised Donald Trump and said he had a “good meeting” with the US president.

    On Tuesday, he told reporters he understood the US was willing to give Ukraine security guarantees after the war is finished.

    Pressed on what this would look like, he said he did not have specific details but broached the possibility of more weapons, air defences and drones.

    Trump’s suggestion on Tuesday that Kyiv could win, with support from the EU and Nato, marked an apparent U-turn after his previous comments that Ukraine would have to accept “land swaps” as a condition of peace.

    The US president also described Russia as a “paper tiger” that had been “fighting aimlessly in Ukraine.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov responded: “Russia is in no way a tiger. It’s more associated with a bear. And there is no such thing as a paper bear.”

    Peskov told reporters the US president had made the comments “apparently under the influence of the vision put forward by Zelensky”.

    “This vision is in absolute contrast with our understanding of the current state of affairs.”

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, marking the highest-level US encounter with Russia since Trump invited Putin to Alaska last month.

    According to a brief statement from the US State Department, Rubio reiterated Trump’s “call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war”.

    The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the meeting.

    (BBC)

  • Kremlin Calls Trump ‘Emotional’ After US President Says Putin is ‘Crazy’

    Kremlin Calls Trump ‘Emotional’ After US President Says Putin is ‘Crazy’

    The Kremlin claimed Donald Trump was showing signs of “emotional overload” after he called Vladimir Putin “absolutely crazy” following Moscow’s largest aerial assault on Ukraine.

    The US president said on Truth Social on Sunday that “something has happened” to Putin, after Russia killed 13 in Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles. “He has gone absolutely crazy,” Trump said. “Needlessly killing a lot of people.”

    Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said the comments were “connected to an emotional overload of everyone involved”.

    Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, meanwhile said that Ukraine’s allies had removed all range limits on supplied arms, amid reports he would give Kyiv Taurus missiles.

    Trump’s comments followed Russia’s largest combined aerial attack since its full-scale invasion of February 2022. At least 13 people were killed and dozens injured in Ukraine during the night between Saturday and Sunday after Russia fired 367 drones and missiles.

    Between Sunday evening and Monday morning, Russia launched 355 drones against Ukraine, killing 10. The Ukrainian air force said it was the largest attack yet conducted with drones alone.

    Peskov said the latest aerial assaults were a response to Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s “social infrastructure”.

    The Russian defence ministry said that air defence systems destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions.

    Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said on Sunday there was no “military sense” to Russia’s aerial attacks – rather they were “an obvious political choice… by Putin, a choice by Russia… to continue the war and destroy lives.”

    In an apparent response to the Russian attacks over the weekend, German chancellor Merz said there were “no longer” range restrictions on arms supplied to Ukraine.

    “This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by attacking military positions in Russia… with very few exceptions, it didn’t do that until recently. It can now do that,” Merz said.

    Reuters reported that Zelensky was due to travel to Berlin on Wednesday, although this has not been confirmed.

    The BBC approached the Chancellery for comment on whether Merz’s statement suggested an announcement was imminent on the supply of Taurus missiles – something that the previous German government refused to do.

    Last year, the UK said that Ukraine had the right to decide how to use British supplied weapons in its defence. In November, then-US president Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles supplied by the US to strike Russia, albeit with limitations.

    The Taurus missile has a range of about 500km – a far greater distance than other systems supplied by Ukraine’s allies. Russia said supply of the weapon would be “a dangerous move”.

    Emergency workers at a site where private houses were destroyed in a Russian strike in the Kyiv region on Sunday
    Emergency workers at a site where private houses were destroyed in a Russian strike in the Kyiv region on Sunday

    Speaking in New Jersey late on Sunday, Trump said of Putin: “I’ve known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all.”

    He also said he was considering increasing US sanctions on Russia – something he has repeatedly threatened to do before.

    Trump posted his “crazy” remark shortly afterwards, adding on Truth Social: “I’ve always said that he wants all of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”

    But the US president also had strong words for Zelensky, saying that he was “doing his country no favours by talking the way he does”.

    “Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop,” Trump wrote of Zelensky.

    Despite Kyiv’s European allies preparing further sanctions for Russia, the US has said it will either continue trying to broker these peace talks, or “walk away” if progress does not follow.

    Peskov said on Monday that Russia was “truly grateful” to the Americans and “personally to President Trump” for their help in organising and launching this negotiation process.

    Last week, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a US-proposed ceasefire deal to halt the fighting.

    The US president said he believed the call had gone “very well”, adding that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately start” negotiations toward a ceasefire and “an end to the war”.

    Ukraine has publicly agreed to a 30-day ceasefire but Putin has only said Russia will work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum” on a “possible future peace” – a move described by Kyiv and its European allies as delaying tactics.

    The first direct Ukrainian-Russian talks since 2022 were held on 16 May in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Aside from a major prisoner of war swap last week, there was little or no progress on bringing a pause in fighting closer.

    Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. This includes Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

    (BBC)

  • Russia and Ukraine to ‘Immediately’ Start Ceasefire Talks, Says Trump

    Russia and Ukraine to ‘Immediately’ Start Ceasefire Talks, Says Trump

    US President Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine will “immediately” start negotiating towards a ceasefire and an end to the war, after a two-hour phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

    Trump, who described the conversation as having gone “very well”, also said conditions for peace would need to be negotiated between the two parties.

    Despite the note of optimism from Trump, who also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, any ceasefire or peace deal does not appear close.

    Putin said he was ready to work with Ukraine on a “memorandum on a possible future peace agreement”, while Zelensky said “this is a defining moment”, and urged the US not to distance itself from talks.

    In his remarks, the Russian president did not address demands from the US and European countries for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

    After his one-on-one call with Trump, Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s desire for a “full and unconditional ceasefire”, and warned if Moscow is not ready, “there must be stronger sanctions”.

    Speaking earlier before Trump’s conversation with Putin, Zelensky said he had asked that any decisions about Ukraine were not made without his country, calling them “matters of principles” for Ukraine.

    He added he did not have any details on a “memorandum” but said once they have received anything from the Russians, they will “be able to formulate their vision accordingly”.

    Writing on his Truth Social page after the call, Trump said: “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War,” adding he had informed Zelensky of this in a second call, which also included other world leaders.

    He added: “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of.”

    Zelensky said the negotiation process “must involve both American and European representatives at the appropriate level”.

    “It is crucial for all of us that the United States does not distance itself from the talks and the pursuit of peace, because the only one who benefits from that is Putin,” he explained.

    Talking at a White House event later in the day, Trump said the US would not be stepping away from brokering talks between Russia and Ukraine, but that he has a “red line in his head” on when he will stop pushing on them both.

    He also denied that the US was stepping back from its negotiating role.

    In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly warned that the US would step away from negotiations as he became increasingly frustrated at the lack of developments from both Moscow and Kyiv in the way of peace.

    When asked on what he believes on Russia, he said he thinks Putin has had enough of the war and wants it to end.

    Meanwhile, Putin – who described the call with Trump, which he took from a music school on a visit to the city of Sochi, as “frank, informative and constructive” – also spoke of the potential for a ceasefire.

    “We have agreed with the US president that Russia will offer and is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement,” he said.

    This, he added would define “a number of positions” including “principles of the settlement and a timeline for concluding a possible peace agreement…including a possible ceasefire for a certain period of time, should relevant agreements be reached”.

    Zelensky held a second call with Trump after the US president spoke to Putin, which also included President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, Italy, Germany and Finland.

    “I want to thank President Trump for his tireless efforts to bring a ceasefire to Ukraine,” von der Leyen said, adding: “It’s important that the US stays engaged.”

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Pope Leo’s offer to host potential peace talks was a gesture welcomed by the US and the other leaders in the call, and “judged positively”.

    Earlier this month, the new Pope offered the Vatican as a venue for possible peace talks after Putin turned down Zelensky’s offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey for negotiations.

    (BBC)

  • Trump, Zelenskyy Meet at Funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican

    Trump, Zelenskyy Meet at Funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican

    President Donald Trump had a brief “very productive” 15-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, a US official said. The pair will hold a second meeting later Saturday.

    Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky met during 15 minutes at Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, their aides said, marking their first encounter since a disastrous White House clash as the US president pushes the Ukrainian to make a peace deal with Russia. They agreed to have a second meeting later Saturday.

    “The leaders agreed to continue their discussions today. Teams are working on organising the continuation of the meeting,” Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov told reporters. The Ukrainian presidency released photos of the two men sitting face to face, and also in a four-way exchange with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

    The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the funeral before it started, a spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency said.

    “The meeting took place and is already over,” Zelensky’s spokesman Sergiy Nykyforov told journalists without providing further detail.

    White House communications director Steven Cheung also confirmed the meeting occured, calling it “a very productive discussion” and saying more details would follow.

    Trump and Zelensky, both accompanied by their wives, sat in the front row of the funeral in St Peter’s Square but were separated by nearly a dozen leaders. Zelensky glanced Trump’s way but they were not seen to meet in public.

    Both sides had kept the prospects of a meeting vague ahead of the funeral with Trump saying only it was “possible”.

    Tensions have been high since Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28, calling him ungrateful for the billions of dollars of US military assistance given since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

    Blame game

    Trump, while calling on President Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, has recently blamed Zelensky for the war and the continuing bloodshed.

    Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a conflict not seen in Europe for decades.

    Trump has also pushed Zelensky to accept previously unpalatable concessions such as acknowledging that Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014, will remain in Russian hands under any deal to stop the conflict.

    Arriving in Rome late Friday, Trump pushed for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet after what he said was progress in talks.

    “They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

    “Most of the major points are agreed to,” he said.

    Putin on Friday discussed the “possibility” of direct talks with Ukraine in a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.

    But Zelensky again rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up Crimea.

    Witkoff’s meeting with Putin came just after a top Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack outside Moscow.

    An increasingly frustrated Trump last week threatened to walk away from peace efforts if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire.

    Trump last year promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if elected president, though he said in a Time magazine interview this week that he was speaking “in jest”.

    Few meetings

    The US president, accompanied by his wife Melania, is making the first foreign trip of his second term.

    It puts him centre-stage for a major diplomatic gathering with some 50 heads of state, including 10 reigning monarchs, and Britain’s Prince William.

    Trump’s trip to Italy also comes after he rattled European allies by imposing sweeping tariffs, although he at least temporarily has backed down from the most severe measures.

    The US president shook hands with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. He also greeted French President Emmanuel Macron, a close ally.

    Other leaders also swarmed Trump after he arrived.

    One person he did not meet: his predecessor Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Biden, a devout Catholic attending independently with wife Jill and sitting five rows behind his successor.

    Previously, other presidents have taken their predecessors with them on Air Force One to papal funerals.

    Official Vatican images showed Trump and Melania stopping by the closed coffin in St Peter’s Basilica after his motorcade had arrived at the Vatican.

    Trump, in a dark blue suit and tie, and Melania, wearing a black veil, then took their seats in the front row for the service.

    Trump earlier said any meetings would be quick and added: “Frankly it’s a little disrespectful to have meetings when you’re at the funeral of the pope.”

    He is due to fly back to the United States later Saturday after just half a day in the Eternal City.

    (FRANCE 24 with AFP)

  • Zelensky Commits to Easter Truce, Accuses Russia of Breaking It

    Zelensky Commits to Easter Truce, Accuses Russia of Breaking It

    Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces would observe a surprise Easter truce announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin that is set to last until midnight on Sunday, even as air-raid sirens sounded in Kyiv.

    The truce would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict.

    But just hours after the order was meant to have come into effect, air-raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital and Zelensky accused Russia of having maintained its artillery fire and assaults on the frontline.

    Also on Saturday, Russia and Ukraine held a large exchange of prisoners, each side saying they had handed back more than 240 captured fighters.

    The order to halt all combat over the Easter weekend came after months of efforts by US President Donald Trump to get Moscow and Kyiv to agree a truce. On Friday, Washington even threatened to withdraw from talks if no progress was made.

    “Today from 18:00 (17:00 Paris time) to midnight Sunday (23:00 Paris time), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said earlier Saturday in televised comments during a meeting with the Russian chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.

    Zelensky responded by saying Ukraine would follow suit, and proposed extending the truce beyond Sunday. But the Ukrainian leader also accused Russia of having already broken its promises.

    ‘Give peace a chance’

    Air-raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and several other regions Saturday evening.

    “Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,” Zelensky said.

    Putin had said the truce for the Easter holiday celebrated on Sunday was motivated by “humanitarian reasons”.

    He said he expected Ukraine to comply but Russian troops “must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy”.

    Zelensky in a social media post wrote: “If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia’s actions.”

    He pointed out that Putin earlier rejected a proposed 30-day full and unconditional ceasefire and urged Russia to extend the ceasefire.

    “If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelensky said, adding that “30 days could give peace a chance”.

    ‘Killings will continue’

    Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, said Saturday evening there had been several Russian drone attacks since Moscow had announced the truce.

    “Unfortunately, we do not observe any lull” in the fighting, he said.

    Soldiers in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk close to the front line, were greeted the announcement with scepticism.

    Putin “might do it to give some hope or to show his humanity. But either way, of course, we don’t trust (Russia),” said Dmitry, a 40-year-old soldier.

    Putin’s truce announcement came day after Russia abandoned a moratorium on striking Ukrainian energy targets, which in any case each side had accused the other of having failed to respect.

    Putin said the latest truce proposal would show “how sincere is the Kyiv’s regime’s readiness, its desire and ability to observe agreements and participate in a process of peace talks”.

    Previous attempts at holding ceasefires for Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 were not implemented after both sides failed to agree on them.

    ‘No trust’

    Ukraine last month agreed to Trump’s proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, only for Putin to reject it.

    “There is no trust in words coming from Moscow,” Zelensky said. “We know all too well how Moscow manipulates, and we are prepared for anything. Ukraine’s Defense Forces will act rationally – responding in kind.

    “Every Russian strike will be met with an appropriate response,” he added.

    In Kramatorsk, one soldier, Vladislav, 22, recalled a ceasefire agreement soon after the start of armed hostilities in 2014, the year Russia seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

    That truce had collapsed days afterwards, he said.

    “I feel like it’s going to start again after a while, and it’s going to go on and on,” he said of the conflict.

    Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine and Russia said they had each returned 246 soldiers being held as prisoners of war in a swap mediated by the UAE.

    Zelensky said the total of returned POWs now stood at 4,552.

    Russia also said it had retaken the penultimate village still under Ukrainian control in its Kursk frontier region.

    Kyiv had hoped to use its hold on the region as a bargaining chip in the talks.

    (FRANCE 24 with AFP) 

  • Zelensky Accuses US Envoy Witkoff of Spreading ‘Russian Narratives’

    Zelensky Accuses US Envoy Witkoff of Spreading ‘Russian Narratives’

    Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused US special envoy Steve Witkoff of “disseminating Russian narratives” after he appeared to suggest that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine hinged on the status of five Ukrainian regions.

    After holding a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Witkoff told Fox News that a deal to end the war was “about these so-called five territories”.

    “I think that Mr Witkoff has taken the strategy of the Russian side,” Zelensky told a Kyiv press conference on Thursday.

    “I think it’s really dangerous, because consciously or unconsciously he is disseminating Russian narratives”.

    Witkoff appeared to be referring to the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in eastern Ukraine, much of which are under Russian military occupation after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022 with the aim of taking control of the whole country.

    The fifth region is believed to be Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 in a move not recognised internationally.

    “The territories are ours, they belong to our people and not only us but the future Ukrainian people… So I don’t understand what he’s talking about,” said Zelensky.

    In his interview with Fox News, Witkoff said: “This peace deal is about these so-called five territories. But there’s so much more to it… I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very important for the world at large.”

    “On top of that, I believe there’s a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too,” he added.

    The US and Russia have been holding talks aimed at restoring diplomatic relations.

    Zelensky’s intervention is not the first time he has criticised Witkoff.

    In March, he said: “He doesn’t look like a military man. He doesn’t look like a general, and he doesn’t have such experience. As far as I know, he is very good at selling and buying real estate. And this is a little different.”

    The Ukrainian leader’s comments came after top US, Ukrainian and European diplomats met in Paris to discuss the war – a group that included Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

    Meanwhile Donald Trump renewed his own criticisms of Zelensky on Thursday. He appeared to row back on earlier comments accusing the Ukrainian leader of starting the war but said he was “not a big fan”.

    “I don’t hold Zelensky responsible but I’m not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started,” Trump said.

    “I’m not blaming him, but what I am saying is that I wouldn’t say he’s done the greatest job, OK? I am not a big fan.”

    Zelensky also told journalists that he had “information” China was supplying weapons to Russia.

    “We have finally received information that China is supplying weapons to the Russian Federation,” he said.

    “We believe that Chinese representatives are engaged in the production of some weapons on Russian territory,” he added.

    China has not yet responded but has previously portrayed itself as a neutral party in the war.

    Beijing did respond to an assertion last week by Zelensky that Chinese nationals were fighting for Russia by advising “relevant parties to correctly and soberly understand China’s role and not to make irresponsible remarks”.

    (BBC)

  • Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky: The comedian who became a wartime leader

    Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky: The comedian who became a wartime leader

    Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky was a comedian with no political experience when he announced that he would be running in Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election.

    Six years later, and he is now an embattled wartime leader and a symbol of Ukrainian defiance of Russian aggression.

    Slava ukraini, or Glory to Ukraine, has been his battle cry since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022.

    Much of the world rallied behind Zelensky – he received several standing ovations after his address to the US Congress asking for American support.

    But just three years later, he finds himself in uncertain territory, facing an onslaught of criticism from the returning US leader, Donald Trump, as Zelensky fights for his country to get a seat at the negotiating table.

    His arrival on the political scene was a case of life imitating art.

    Ironically, Zelensky’s most celebrated role as a comic actor was playing a school teacher who was catapulted into the presidency on the TV series, Servant of the People.

    Cut to real life, and his election candidacy, aged 41, was initially seen by some as a joke – his political party is even called Servant of the People.

    But he won with a landslide 73% of the vote, promising to fight corruption and bring peace in the east of Ukraine.

    Sceptics feared Zelensky would turn out to be a puppet leader, controlled by oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky who backed his campaign and had been under investigation for fraud and money laundering.

    But Zelensky proved to be more independent than his doubters thought, and the anti-corruption drive by his administration has had some success.

    Many Ukrainians also viewed Zelensky’s rhetoric on the conflict in the eastern Donbas region and relations with Russia as too timid, says communications consultant Yaryna Klyuchkovska.

    As the drumbeat of war grew louder, Zelensky continued to emphasise his hopes for a diplomatic solution, even while Ukraine was reporting a rapid increase in ceasefire violations along the front line.

    His attempts to negotiate with Russia had only limited success.

    There were prisoner exchanges and moves towards implementing parts of a peace process, known as the Minsk agreements, but no breakthrough. Throughout 2020 his approval rating steadily fell.

    There was a notable shift in tone at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, when Zelensky laid bare the threat his country was facing, and accused the West of appeasing a resurgent Russia.

    No Ukrainian leader had spoken so bluntly to the West before, according to Ms Klyuchkovska.

    Then on 24 February 2022, just hours before Russia first began bombarding Ukraine’s cities, came a key moment.

    In a sober address posted on social media, speaking partly in Russian, Zelensky said he had tried to call Vladimir Putin to avert a war, and had been met by silence.

    The two countries didn’t need a war, he said, but if Ukrainians came under attack they would defend themselves.

    “When you attack us you will see our faces – not our backs, but our faces.”

    For his next broadcast after Russia had invaded, he wore military fatigues, reflecting the country’s David-versus-Goliath struggle.

    That evening he made another address, warning Western leaders that if they did not help, tomorrow “war will knock on your doors”.

    Zelensky’s nightly video addresses became a source of hope and comfort for millions of Ukrainians during the ongoing fighting. His ability to connect was perhaps most evident when he posted a defiant video of himself with several top advisors in Kyiv, after Russia falsely claimed he had fled the capital.

    “We are here,” he repeated. “We are in Kyiv. We are protecting Ukraine.”

    Zelensky quickly became a national figurehead, with a high of 90% approval ratings in the immediate aftermath of the invasion.

    After Russia invaded, Zelensky starting wearing military fatigues, which have become his signature style and a political statement. Reuters

    The war has understandably taken an emotional toll on Zelensky’s family. His wife, Olena Zelenska, and their two children spent months living in secret locations for their own safety. The four have spent very little time together since the start of the conflict.

    Further afield, Zelensky has seen it as his mission to galvanise support for Ukraine, leaning on his western allies to provide aid and fast-track his country’s membership of Nato.

    In between visits to the front line, he has spoken with foreign leaders to lobby support and attended conferences across the globe, pleading for help.

    One of the most striking and enduring images from the early months of the war was his visit in April 2022 to the outer Kyiv suburb town of Bucha – where Russian troops are suspected of committing hundreds of war crimes.

    His first foreign trip after the invasion came in December 2022 when he went to the US to visit then-President Joe Biden – unsurprising given Washington had been Kyiv’s largest backer.

    During that trip, Zelensky received several standing ovations when he addressed Congress and told them: “Against all odds… Ukraine is alive and kicking” and will “never surrender”.

    Biden also promised further support to Ukraine, saying the American people were prepared to “have us stand up to bullies”.

    line

    Years before politics

    • Born in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, east Ukraine, in 1978
    • Graduated from Kyiv National Economic University with a law degree
    • Co-founded a successful TV production company
    • Focused mainly on his TV and film career until the mid-2010s
    • Produced shows for a network owned by controversial billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky
    • Backed by Kolomoisky during his presidential campaign, which worried some Ukrainians
    line

    But Zelensky has cut a frustrated figure at times over the speed at which he has received western support – as well as the reluctance to approve the use of some weapons on the front line.

    Even in the first few months of the conflict, it was clear there would be pushback from some Republican Party quarters over how much support the US should give.

    Nearly three years on, and with a different president in the White House, there appears to be a deepening rift between the two countries.

    Zelensky has long maintained that talks about Ukraine’s future should be conducted with Ukraine at the table. But the Americans have instead met with Russian officials to discuss the war – and Ukraine wasn’t there.

    He has accused the US of helping Putin to “break out of years of isolation” and said Donald Trump lives in a “Russian disinformation space”.

    Meanwhile, Trump has turned his ire on Zelensky, calling him a “dictator” – echoing Russia’s claims – and criticising the fact that Ukraine has not held an election since 2019. A vote was scheduled for May 2024, but it was suspended because Ukraine has been under martial law since the invasion began, a decision that was broadly backed by the opposition and the Ukrainian population.

    Trump also took aim at Zelensky’s approval rating. It is true that his popularity has dipped over the years, but as Yaryna Klyuchkovska noted, for someone who started with such a high approval rating – the only way was down.

    Even so, while polling is limited in Ukraine because millions have fled and Russia occupies about a fifth of the country, a recent survey suggested Zelensky still has the support of 57% of Ukrainians.

    Russia’s war on Ukraine has lasted far longer than Moscow intended – Putin had hoped to take Ukraine within a matter of days of launching what it calls its “special military operation”.

    Three years on, and while Russia continues to make territorial gains, Ukraine has managed to slow the advance and even mount a counter-offensive inside Russia itself.

    Ukraine’s future is still uncertain, but Zelensky remains defiant in the face of Russian aggression.

    (BBC)

  • Five takeaways from the Munich Security Conference

    Five takeaways from the Munich Security Conference

    In Summary

    • US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia next week to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
    • However, Ukraine and European politicians have not been invited to attend, despite insisting they must be involved for any ceasefire to be credible.

    A series of US declarations rocked last week’s Munich Security Conference and caused discord among the European politicians in attendance.

    Now US and Russian officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia next week to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.

    However, Ukraine and European politicians have not been invited to attend, despite insisting they must be involved for any ceasefire to be credible.

    Instead, they will meet in Paris on Monday for an emergency summit to discuss the conflict and the continent’s security.

    Here are five takeaways from Munich.

    1. End of an era

    Nato, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was formed in 1949 with the primary aim of blocking expansion in Europe by the former Soviet Union.

    Now numbering 32 members, including several Eastern European countries, members agree that if one of them is attacked, the others should help defend it.

    But after this week the post-World War Two security architecture for Europe is no more. America is still in Nato but Europe can no longer automatically rely on the US to come to its aid.

    In Brussels, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called on Nato’s European members to spend much more on defence, saying they would have to provide the “overwhelming” share of military funding for Ukraine.

    2. Ukraine policy upended

    The US and Russia are going to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine, whether Europe and Ukraine like it or not.

    The talks in Saudi Arabia will end a three-year freeze in talking to Vladimir Putin, despite urgent warnings by Kyiv that the Russian leader is not to be trusted.

    They follow a phone call between Donald Trump and Putin on Wednesday.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be joined by national security adviser Mike Waltz and the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, US officials said.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly said he would not accept any deal struck without his country’s input, said Kyiv had not been invited to the talks.

    3. Spend more now

    Europe, everyone agrees, needs to rapidly raise its defence spending if it has any hope of deterring a newly emboldened Russia.

    The current Nato-mandated minimum of 2% of GDP is likely to rise to 3%. Russia currently spends more than twice that on defence in percentage terms.

    In January, Trump urged Nato’s European members to spend 5% of their national income on defence. Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte has also urged member states to boost their defence spending.

    But Europe as a whole has already overtaken the US in terms of aid to Ukraine. In total, it has allocated €70bn ($73bn; £58bn) in financial and humanitarian aid as well as €62bn in military aid. This compares to €64bn in military aid from the US as well as €50bn in financial and humanitarian allocations.

    4. That JD Vance speech

    US Vice President JD Vance’s blistering attack on Europe’s policies on Friday was called “ill-judged” and “insulting” by many of the delegates at the Munich Security Conference.

    They had hoped he would reassure them the US was not abandoning Ukraine.

    Instead, he spent the majority accusing European governments – including the UK’s – of retreating from their values, and ignoring voter concerns on migration and free speech.

    The address was met by silence in the hall, and later denounced by several politicians at the conference.

    But the speech appealed to others on both sides of the Atlantic and Donald Trump called it “brilliant”.

    5. Disunity and discord

    While the Munich conference was occupied by the geopolitical, Donald Trump announced plans to bring in a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports from March.

    It was evidence there are now very obvious rifts between Washington’s positions and Europe’s on several issues, from trade to dealing with Russia.

    It is a divide that the UK is struggling to bridge, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer telling reporters both relationships were important and Britain was “not choosing between the US and the EU”.

    But the Trump team’s own messaging is sometimes contradictory, rowing back on grand pronouncements the day after they have been made.

    (BBC)

  • Trump Says He and Putin Have Agreed To Begin ‘Negotiations’ On Ending Ukraine War

    Trump Says He and Putin Have Agreed To Begin ‘Negotiations’ On Ending Ukraine War

    US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday about starting negotiations immediately to end the war in Ukraine.

    US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to start negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine immediately in an hour-and-a-half phone call Wednesday.

    Donald Trump discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the new US president’s first big step towards diplomacy over a war he has promised to end.

    In a post on his social media platform, Trump said he and Putin had “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.”

    Zelensky’s office said Trump and Zelensky had spoken by phone for about an hour.

    The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow.

    Trump has long said he would quickly end the war in Ukraine, without saying how he would accomplish this.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Trump’s Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, said a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and the US administration did not see NATO membership for Kyiv as part of a solution to the war.

    Speaking at a meeting of Ukraine’s military allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Hegseth delivered the clearest and bluntest public statement so far on the new US administration’s approach to the nearly three-year-old war.

    “We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth told a meeting of Ukraine and more than 40 allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

    “Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”

    No peace talks have been held since the early months of the war, now approaching its third anniversary. Former US President Joe Biden and most Western leaders held no direct discussions with Putin after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

    Ukraine succeeded in the war’s first year in pushing Russian forces back from the outskirts of Kyiv and recapturing swathes of Russian-occupied territory.

    But Moscow has mostly had the upper hand on the battlefield since a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023, making slow but steady gains in intense fighting that has killed or injured hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides and laid Ukrainian cities to waste.

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    Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine and has demanded Kyiv cede more territory and be rendered permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured territory and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.

    In recent interviews, Kyiv appears to have accepted that it will not be admitted to NATO soon but has emphasised its need for military support under a peace deal.

    “If Ukraine is not in NATO, it means that Ukraine will build NATO on its territory. So we need an army as numerous as the Russians have today,” Zelensky said in an interview with The Economist published on Wednesday.

    “And for all this, we need weapons and money. And we will ask the U.S. for this,” Zelensky said, describing that as his “Plan B”.

    Hesgeth, in his comments in Brussels, said the bulk of future military support for Ukraine would have to come from European allies.

    (Reuters)

  • Trump Calls For Immediate Ukraine Ceasefire

    Trump Calls For Immediate Ukraine Ceasefire

    (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end “the madness”, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy and the Kremlin to list their conditions.

    Trump made his comments just hours after meeting Zelenskiy in Paris for their first face-to-face talks since Trump won last month’s U.S. election. Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the conflict, but so far has not provided details.

    “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, adding that Kyiv had lost some 400,000 soldiers. “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”

    “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!” Trump added, referring to Russian President Putin.

    Trump, in Paris for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, sat down with Zelenskiy on Saturday for about an hour, along with host President Emmanuel Macron.

    Trump and Zelenskiy shook hands and smiled, but it was unclear how the conversation had gone. Accounts of the talks from the French and Ukrainian sides said only that the discussions had been good and productive.

    Zelenskiy reacted to Trump’s message on Sunday saying peace was not just a piece of paper, but needed guarantees.

    “When we talk about effective peace with Russia, we must first and foremost talk about effective guarantees for peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else,” he said on X.

    “It (the war) cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures. A ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any moment, as Putin has already done before. To ensure that Ukrainians no longer suffer losses, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to occupation.”

    It appeared Trump’s figure of 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers lost in the war meant both killed and wounded. Zelenskiy said 43,000 soldiers had been killed in the war and that there had been 370,000 wounded soldiers.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov convened a conference call with reporters to address Trump’s comments.

    Peskov said Russia was open to talks, but that they had to be based on agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022 and on current realities on the battlefield where Russian forces have been pushing forward at their fastest rate since the early days of the war in 2022.

    Putin has said repeatedly that a preliminary agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the first weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as the basis for future talks.

    “Our position on Ukraine is well known,” said Peskov.

    “The conditions for an immediate stop to hostilities were set out by President Putin in his speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry in June of this year. It is important to recall that it was Ukraine that refused and continues to refuse negotiations,” he said.

    Putin has said that Ukraine must not join the NATO military alliance and that Russia should be left fully in control of four Ukrainian regions his troops partially control at the moment for a peace deal to be done.

    Peskov noted that Zelenskiy had banned contacts with the Russian leadership through a special decree, which Peskov said would have to be revoked if talks were to proceed.

  • Trump Claims Ukrainian President Favors Democrats In US Presidential Elections

    Trump Claims Ukrainian President Favors Democrats In US Presidential Elections

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy supports the Democratic Party in the upcoming elections, former US President Donald Trump claimed during a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday.

    “He (Zelenskyy) wants them to win this election so badly,” the Republican presidential nominee said, calling Zelenskyy “the greatest salesman in history” for securing billions in US aid.

    “Every time he (Zelenskyy) comes into the country, he walks away with 60 billion dollars,” he added.

    Trump suggested that the ongoing war could have been avoided, asserting that if he had been in office, a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would have been negotiated.

    The former president said if elected, he would call both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin and urge them to reach a peace deal.

    Neither Zelenskyy’s office nor Harris’ campaign have reacted to Trump’s comments yet.

    Last week, Trump said he would “probably” meet with Zelenskyy during his visit to the US.

  • Volodymyr Zelensky Net Worth and Rise From Actor to President

    Volodymyr Zelensky Net Worth and Rise From Actor to President

    President Volodymyr Zelensky’s net worth is estimated to be $596 million. Before entering politics, he worked in comedy, acting, and television production.

    Most of his earnings came from these entertainment ventures, including TV appearances, film roles, and content creation through his company, Kvartal 95.

    This article highlights his net worth, sources of income, career, and personal life.

    Volodymyr Zelensky Net Worth
    [Photo: CNN]

    Volodymyr Zelensky Net Worth

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a Ukrainian politician, former actor, and comedian. He has been the president of Ukraine since 2019.

    As president, he supports e-government and unity between the Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking parts of the country.

    Zelenskyy grew up in Kryvyi Rih, a Russian-speaking region in southeastern Ukraine.

    Estimates of Zelenskyy’s net worth vary widely. Some sources say he has around $1.5 billion, while others suggest it’s closer to $20 million.

    These differences come from difficulties in valuing his assets and income before his presidency.

    The public has mixed views on Zelensky’s net worth. Some Ukrainians see him as a successful businessman who uses his wealth to help the country.

    Others worry about potential corruption and think his wealth could lead to conflicts of interest.

    Category Details
    Net Worth $596 Million
    Annual Income $60 Million
    Monthly Income $5 Million +
    Presidential Term 20 May 2019 –
    Office President of Ukraine since 2019
    Political Party Independent
    Residence Mariinskyi Palace
    Private Jets 3
    Mansions and Villas 15+

    Financial Disclosure and Pandora Connection

    Another source of information is Zelenskyy’s 2020 financial disclosure. This document showed that he and his family earned 22.748 million hryvnias (about $8.2 million) that year.

    Their income came from various sources, including his salary as President of Ukraine, his wife’s business income, and investments.

    Zelenskyy has faced accusations of corruption, especially after the Pandora Papers leak in 2021.

    These documents claimed that Zelenskyy and his associates owned offshore companies and used them to transfer funds.

    Zelenskyy denied any wrongdoing and said the companies were used for legal purposes.

    Volodymyr Zelensky Watch Collection

    While running for president and during his presidency, Volodymyr Zelensky received expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen and oligarchs. Here are a few watches in Zelensky’s collection.

    Here are a few watches in Zelensky’s collection

    Watch Brand Value (USD)
    Franck Muller $250,000
    Roger Dubuis $260,000
    Chopard $105,000
    F.P Journe $190,000
    Breguet and Fils $365,000
    Patek Philippe $400,000

    Zelensky Movies and TV Shows

    Zelenskyy starred in several popular Ukrainian TV shows and movies, including “Servant of the People” (2015–2019). This show inspired the name of his political party.

    • Production company

    He was a co-founder and owner of Kvartal 95, a prosperous production company responsible for creating comedy shows, movies, and various entertainment content.

    • Endorsements and advertising

    Zelenskyy also made money through endorsements and advertising agreements.

    Assets and Investments

    Zelensky owns over 12 real estate properties, 8 cars, and 5 luxury yachts. His assets also include cash reserves of over $75 million.

    Additionally, he owns an investment portfolio of 15 stocks valued at $60 million. Here’s the list of stocks in which Zelensky has invested:

    • Saudi Aramco
    • Apple
    • Microsoft
    • Meta
    • Alphabet
    • Amazon
    • Tesla

    Volodymyr Zelensky Biography

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy, born to Jewish parents on January 25, 1978, in Kryvyi Rih, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, earned a law degree from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics.

    Six months before announcing his candidacy for the Ukrainian presidential election in 2019 (December 31, 2018), Zelenskyy was already one of the frontrunners in opinion polls.

    Throughout the election campaign, he continued to tour with Kvartal 95.

    Zelenskyy declared that as president, he would develop the economy and attract investment to Ukraine by “restarting the judicial system” and restoring confidence in the state.

    Who is Zelensky’s father?

    Zelensky’s father, a professor and computer scientist, heads the Department of Cybernetics and Computing Hardware at the Kryvyi Rih State University of Economics and Technology.

    Zelensky’s Career in Entertainment

    In 2008, Zelensky starred in the feature film Love in the Big City, along with its sequel, Love in the Big City 2.

    He continued his movie career with the film Office Romance. Our Time in 2011.

    In August 2014, Zelensky opposed the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture’s plan to ban Russian artists from Ukraine.

    Then, in 2015, he became the star of the television series Servant of the People, portraying the role of the president of Ukraine.

    Volodymyr ZelenskyNet Worth Growth

    Year Net Worth (Million)
    2024 $596 Million
    2023 $536 Million
    2022 $476 Million
    2021 $421 Million
    2020 $370 Million
    2019 $320 Million
  • Zelensky Says WWIII Is Assured If Talks With Putin Fail

    Zelensky Says WWIII Is Assured If Talks With Putin Fail

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he’s “ready for negotiations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that if they break down, it will lead to World War III.

    “I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war,” Zelensky told CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria.

    “I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.”

    “You cannot reverse this situation anymore. You cannot demand from Ukraine to recognize some territories as intended for conflicts, and these compromises are simply wrong.”

    Zelensky’s comments come as Turkey claims Moscow and Kiev are close to an agreement on key points – despite the Kremlin turning to “more destructive artillery” after revealing it used hypersonic “Kinzhal” missiles at least twice on Ukrainian targets.

    In a Saturday video message, Zelensky called for talks “without delay,” warning that Russia would suffer “huge” losses if they don’t come to the table.

    “We have always insisted on negotiations. We have always offered dialogue, offered solutions for peace,” he said. “And I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. It’s time to meet. Time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine.”

    Ukraine’s priorities are: “The end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country.”

    Russia’s priorities – laid out in a call with Turkey last week – consist of two categories of demands; Ukraine must remain neutral and not apply to join Nato, a point Zelensky has already conceded. Ukraine would also need to undergo a disarmament process to ensure it isn’t a threat to Russia, as well as ‘de-Nazify’ its armed forces.

    The second category of Russian demands is where more difficulty will lie, according to top Turkish government adviser Ibrahim Kalin, and will require face-to-face negotiations between Putin and Zelensky.

    Mr Kalin was much less specific about these issues, saying simply that they involved the status of Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, parts of which have already broken away from Ukraine and stressed their Russianness, and the status of Crimea.

    Although Mr Kalin didn’t go into detail, the assumption is that Russia will demand that the Ukrainian government should give up territory in eastern Ukraine. That will be deeply contentious. -BBC

    On Sunday, Zelensky told CNN that if Ukraine “were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started.”

    “I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people. If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately. Because people are dying on a daily basis,” he continued, adding that he’s been grateful for NATO’s aid since the invasion began.