Zelenskyy mentioned a conversation with Trump regarding the Budapest Memorandum

This was reported citing a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview for the newspaper Il Foglio.

During the interview, Zelenskyy mentioned a conversation with US President Donald Trump regarding the Budapest Memorandum. There was also mention of the meeting in the Normandy format that took place in 2019.

In particular, Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin does not keep his word.

"Putin makes promises but does not keep them. We talked about the Budapest Memorandum, and Trump heard my position. I believe it was wrong to act this way with Ukraine and Europe. Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons. I am not claiming that it was necessary to keep or give them up. In my opinion, it was not worth it, considering that we were attacked," the president said.

According to Zelenskyy, 30 years ago Ukraine should have exchanged the renunciation of nuclear weapons for real security guarantees. At that time, this could have been Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

"It was unwise, absolutely unwise, illogical, and very irresponsible to make such an exchange... Larger countries, more powerful economies influenced Ukraine at that time. It was difficult for them to refuse," Zelenskyy noted.