CBN News Interviews Ukrainian President Zelenskyy: The Trump Effect, Stolen Kids, and Evangelicals

KYIV, Ukraine – Does Russia want peace? The answer appears to be up to Vladimir Putin… for now. His counterpart is making moves trying to win early international support. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained his goals to CBN News in Kyiv just before his surprise summit in Paris with President-elect Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy entered the world stage through a chain of events that led to the impeachment of an American president, and again in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Now, after nearly three-years of war, he hopes to bring the violence to an end as President-elect Trump seeks to usher in a new political world order.

In Kyiv, our cameras caught President Zelenskyy thanking battle-scarred soldiers at a military prayer breakfast. 

Back at his office, we discussed peace talks with Putin, his bid to join NATO, and how Trump's reelection in the U.S. is changing the course of Europe's largest land war since World War II.

THE TRUMP EFFECT

JOHN JESSUP:  President Zelenskyy, thank you so much for making time for the Christian Broadcasting Network. One of the things that I've been struck by as we've been here in Ukraine talking to members of Parliament, talking to religious leaders and even ordinary people, is how frequently people are discussing peace. Has that changed because of the dynamics of President Trump being elected? 

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  First of all, first of all, people in Ukraine wanted peace always. When full scale invasion started, people had no other way as to take weapons because their children were killed. And I am quite sure, I do not want your countries and our neighbors and {the} United States, I do not want you to have war. But if that happens, you would do the same. 

Ukraine is a very peaceful country. And by the way, a very believing nation. You know that even the majority of evangelicals are here in Ukraine. Our council of churches is the biggest one. People of different faiths, faiths, different religions, but they are very much a believing nation. And for them there is this hope that Trump — and Trump has this position as a strong president. That is what is coming across, and I think that Putin understands strength only. So then he would see that there is this strong president, strong country standing with Ukraine and then we can achieve peace through strength.

RELATIONSHIP WITH TRUMP

JESSUP: How will negotiating for peace with Trump back in the White House be different than the current relationship? 

ZELENSKYY: I think we will be able to understand one another. And I think that with this new president of the United States, we are siding together. He does want to end this war. And we Ukrainians really want to end that war as well. And he understands that America cannot lose. America cannot come across as weak. If evil is not placed to where it belongs, then it will be examples to other authoritarian regimes that are watching.  

EXCLUSIVE FULL INTERVIEW Zelenskyy Confident Trump Can Help End Ukraine War: 'He Understands'

NATO
 
JESSUP:  Mr. president, I know that you're looking for some assurances from NATO. I think one of the terms that's used is the NATO umbrella. Your critics would say that that's not going to happen. So what do you mean when you say security assurances under a NATO umbrella?  

ZELENSKYY: When we are talking about a model — a model that would disable people coming to your land with weaponry, and border protection, then we are talking the only available model, working model, at least among the NATO countries because they are not in war — praise God, praise God — that they do not have that war, because it is suffering.  So we do believe those guarantees, under a NATO umbrella, as I said, an invitation is the step one because that would send a very clear signal to Putin or any other aggressor, you name it, that Ukraine is going to be a NATO member.  

STOLEN KIDS 

JESSUP: Some estimates, the official count, I believe, is about 20,000 Ukrainian children who have been forcibly moved from Ukraine to Russia. Some numbers say as many as hundreds of thousands. What is the priority in getting them back? Where do they factor into the equation of peace talks?

ZELENSKYY: Children, that's very difficult to come back. How do we bring military people? Even that is difficult.  Sometimes we can come bring back civilians, and we have some tools to do that  Now, when it comes to children, that's very difficult. Why? Because we cannot exchange children for children. Yes, they have deported children, deported by strength. We are not capturing Russian children. We are not stealing children. We are not deporting their children. That never ever happens.

AID FOR UKRAINE
 
JESSUP: A lot of support that you've received, for example, funding for Ukrainian aid came through the help of evangelical Christians. We also have seen evangelical churches in Poland help to receive a lot of Ukrainians who were fleeing, provide them with food and with clothing and other needs. How crucial has the support of evangelical Christians been to what Ukraine has been going through?  
 
ZELENSKYY: As I've told you, we have the majority of evangelicals in Europe, and their support is very important. And I want to thank them. And I want to thank all the churches—all the evangelical Christians. 

As I have said, we have representatives of different religions and faiths and confessions. And from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, they were helping a lot. And, you know, anywhere where Russia would come and occupy, they would ruin churches and schools. And they killed 50 priests. And what profits do they gain when they ruined over 700 church buildings? It just underlines one more time that this Russian direction: one language; one church. That's their understanding.  

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