Zelensky says to discuss buying US weapons with Trump

VIENNA: Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said that he will discuss buying US weapons with Donald Trump at the G7 summit, but added that US military aid was not on the agenda.

“We are not talking to America today about new assistance. Indeed, one of the issues I will discuss with President Trump at the meeting is the defence package that Ukraine is ready to buy,” Zelensky said during a visit to Vienna, from where he was to travel to Canada for this week´s G7 summit.

The Ukrainian president, who has overseen his country´s fightback against Russian forces for more than three years, said that “I can´t imagine and I don´t want to imagine... how to live without and fight without the help of the United States”.

He added: “I think we all have to work to make sure that the alliance between America and Europe doesn´t fall apart.” Zelensky also said that he viewed the G7 summit as a “very important” opportunity to see “what kind of pressure we can all exert to stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, so that he stops the fire, stops the war”.

He said that “we will discuss frozen Russian assets with the leaders, and we will also discuss sanctions”. Zelensky spoke alongside Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen as he made his brief Vienna stopover.

In a statement, Zelensky´s office said that he and Van der Bellen spoke about an eventual Austrian contribution to Ukraine´s postwar reconstruction, including clearing landmines, energy cooperation and food security. The Austrian president noted that, while his country remained militarily neutral, “it is not so politically”.