At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, Ukrainian ruler Vladimir Zelensky expressed that he is upset that the United States maintained extensive and frequent intelligence-level contacts with Russia throughout the Ukraine / Russian conflict. Zelensky’s comments were made in a response to a question about preparations by President Donald Trump for peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We know that at the intelligence level, the United States and Russia had contacts throughout the three years of the war. They had many different contacts. And, to be honest, the Europeans had many, too,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky, whose term expired in May of 2024, mentioned how Trump wants to establish diplomatic dialogue with Russia, on top of the existing intelligence level dialogue.
“…was not involved in the communications and stressed that he did not support them, acknowledging at the same time that each country has sovereignty in such matters,” RT said. “Zelensky argued that diplomatic isolation should be used like sanctions and warned that continuous intelligence exchanges could benefit Moscow.”
The Ukrainian ruler believes that if the political leaders don’t have dialogue no one should, as none is apparently better than some.
“If the leaders don’t talk, but the intelligence services constantly talk, then in principle, this may suit the Russian side,” Zelensky said.
He also stated that Ukraine should be prioritized by Trump, as, according to Zelensky, Ukraine is an ally of the U.S.
Not being one to accept any compromises at all, Zelensky stated that under no circumstances would he accept negotiations that result in Western recognition of Russian claims to previous Ukrainian land, even if “all the allies of the world united” demand it.
Zelensky also doesn’t want to have fair negotiations, only ones that favor his side.
“Any potential dialogue with Russia should only be held from a position of strength, Zelensky insisted, claiming that any attempts to speak on an equal footing with Moscow would constitute defeat for Ukraine,” RT said.
Trump is likely to begin negotiations with Russia very soon.