International Editor in Paris
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes the US will “stand strong” in the face of Russian demands to lift sanctions as a condition for a ceasefire in the Black Sea.
Moscow said a maritime truce announced on Tuesday to allow safe passage for commercial vessels would only begin once Western restrictions on Russia’s food and fertiliser trade had been lifted.
Zelensky was speaking during a panel interview in Paris with journalists from across Europe.
Asked by the BBC if the US would resist Russian pressure, he said: “I hope so. God bless, they will. But we’ll see.”
The White House said on Tuesday that Russian and Ukrainian delegations had agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea after three days of separate talks with American officials in Saudi Arabia.
But hours later, the Kremlin released its own statement including a list of conditions.
Its demands include revoking Western sanctions on financial institutions involved in the agricultural trade and restoring their access to the Swift international payment system – a network that facilitates secure financial messaging.
Trump said the US government was “looking at” Moscow’s request for the restrictions to be lifted, but the EU said on Wednesday it would not consider removing sanctions before the “unconditional” withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory.
Speaking to the panel in Paris, Zelensky said he was “very grateful” for bipartisan support from the US, but said he feared some were “under the influence of Russian narratives”.
“We can’t agree to those narratives,” he said.
When asked whether US President Donald Trump had a closer relationship with him or Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zelensky said he did not know.
“I don’t know – it’s difficult for me to say,” he said. “I don’t know what relationships he’s got, I don’t know how many conversations he’s had.”
The Ukrainian leader was also asked about comments from Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who dismissed Europe’s efforts to create a “coalition of the willing” to support Ukraine in an interview last week.
In response, Zelensky said he would not be “hastily driving to conclusions”.
He said Witkoff, who has a background in property development, did not “have that experience”.
“As far as I know, he knows very well how to buy and sell real estate, but that’s somewhat different,” he said.
He also said that Europe had “strengthened itself significantly” during the course of the war.
The BBC also asked Zelensky how he would be remembered in the history books: the man who saved Ukraine, or the man who let it fall?
“I don’t know what history books will write about me,” he said. “It’s not my purpose or goal.”
He said his goal was instead to defend Ukraine and to see his children “walk along their streets without hiding”.
“I will do everything I can until end of my days to defend Ukraine as much as I can,” he added.
On whether Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato, Zelensky said his “battle-hardened” nation would make the alliance stronger, though he noted that the Trump administration had ruled out membership for Kyiv.
The interview took place shortly after Zelensky met French President Emmaunuel Macron in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower has been lit in the colours of the Ukrainian flag in his honour.
Ukraine’s president has returned to Europe to rally his allies and convince them to take the threat of Putin seriously.
They are now doing so – some might even say scrambling to do so – but have previously relied on the Americans to do the heavy lifting in terms of military capacity.
After everything Trump has said in the last two months, Europeans realise the Americans may not be there in the future, which has concentrated their minds.
President Zelensky’s challenge is to get them to deliver hard cash commitments rather than just sentiments.
His meeting with Macron has already proven fruitful, with the French president announcing a new €2bn ($2.2bn; £1.6bn) package of military aid for the war-torn nation.
Referring to the Kremlin’s request to lift sanctions, Macron said Moscow cannot “dictate the conditions” for peace, adding that it was too early to considering lifting European sanctions on Russia.
It comes ahead of a gathering of European leaders in Paris on Thursday, co-hosted by Macron and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to discuss the war in Ukraine.
The “coalition of the willing” – which does not include the US – is attempting to form an agreement on what support European and other nations could offer to maintain a future ceasefire, if one was to be agreed.
Sir Keir is expected to tell the meeting that “Europe is stepping up to play its part to defend Ukraine’s future”.
“Now Putin needs to show he’s willing to play ball,” he will say.
