Accusing Trump of trying to force Ukraine to surrender! Zelensky relents for the first time: he will run for office in wartime

During a meeting between U.S. President Trump (right) and Ukrainian President Zelensky (left) at the White House on February 28, 2025, the two sides publicly had a verbal conflict. Zelensky recently accused Trump again of trying to force Ukraine to surrender. (Reuters photo)

Ukrainian President Zelensky accused US President Trump of trying to force Ukraine to surrender in the Russia-Ukraine war. Faced with Trump's demands for Ukrainians to oust him through elections, Zelensky also publicly stated for the first time that he would run for office if a wartime presidential election were held.

The New York Times reported that Zelensky said in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg published on the 18th: In an interview with Bloomberg, Zelensky bluntly said: "I think (the United States) has taken some measures to persuade Ukraine to surrender." He accused the Trump administration of a series of recent policies that not only strengthened Russia's war machine, but also seriously weakened Ukraine's combat capabilities.

Zelensky admitted that although he did not want to believe that Washington was seeking a quick end to the war at the expense of Ukraine, "but that seems to be the case."

Trump calls for replacement, Zelensky talks about wartime election stance

Trump has recently criticized Zelensky for not wanting to end the war and urged Ukrainians to vote him out. Zelensky said in an exclusive interview with the NBC program "Meet the Press" on the 18th that if a wartime presidential election is held, he will run. However, he also downplayed the possibility of a wartime vote, pointing out that Russia has repeatedly refused to cease fire and that the vast majority of Ukrainians oppose holding elections during the war.

The dispute between the United States and Ukraine also extends to energy policy. Trump previously announced that the United States would purchase Russian diesel in an effort to lower fuel prices and asked Ukraine to stop attacking Russian refineries. Zelensky believes that the Trump administration’s recent measures may benefit Russia but weaken Ukraine’s combat capabilities.

Ukrainian officials also accused the United States of restricting the Ukrainian military's use of a secure satellite network critical for frontline operations, and there was also controversy over intelligence sharing between the two sides. Zelensky said that before Kiev was attacked by Russian troops, Ukraine did not receive any early warning from its partners.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said that at 11:00 pm local time on the 19th, Ukraine did not receive an early warning before the first wave of Russian missiles attacked Kiev; it received an early warning before the second wave of attacks at about 3 am. U.S. officials denied that they had stopped sharing intelligence on ballistic missiles. Secretary of State Rubio attributed the lack of previous warnings to software problems in the early warning system, but did not comment on the situation on the evening of the 19th.

Ukraine stated that the Russian military launched 16 ballistic missiles and nearly 270 drones at Kiev and surrounding areas that night. Ukraine claimed that it shot down more than 240 drones. Faced with a tight inventory of interceptor missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force has no longer announced its ballistic missile interception rate; Zelensky also told Bloomberg that the United States has delayed the delivery of the "Patriot" air defense system interception missiles.