Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy desires ‘robust’ Trump ‘on our aspect’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told journalists in Brussels he hopes to have US President-elect Donald Trump on his side in dealing with Russia.

“Welcome Donald! What can I say?” Zelenskyy said, when asked how he was feeling about Trump’s upcoming inauguration.

“I think that President Trump is a strong man and I want very much to have him on our side.”

“I count on [having] the time to speak, to think, to listen and to hear his view and to show our view,” Zelenskyy said. “I hope that he will understand me because I think that we all, it doesn’t matter, politicians, businessmen in the past, we are just people anyway and we have, I think, the same emotions and the same values.”

Trump has repeatedly said he would swiftly end Russia’s war in Ukraine, but has not made clear how he would do this.

At the same time, Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “crazy.”

“Really, I think he also thinks that he’s crazy. He loves to kill, that’s very dangerous for everybody,” the Ukrainian leader said. “And I want very much for Trump to help us and finish this war.”

“That’s why I think we need to have a real plan, a strong position, and I very much count that we will,” he said.