‘A ceasefire is a trap,’ he said, adding that Putin would humiliate Trump by violating the terms of any deal to ‘go further’ in Ukraine and pursue his own goals.

 

He said that failure to continue providing Ukraine with aid and military support would degrade America’s reputation as a powerful world leader.

 

‘This is not about him [Trump], as a person but about the institutions of the United States. They will become very weak. The US will not be the leader of the world any more… in terms of international influence it will be equal to zero,’ the Ukrainian president declared.

 

He also warned a Trump decision to end US support of Kyiv could embolden other countries and groups with nefarious intentions to risk waging wars of their own.

 

And finally, he confirmed that he remains in close contact with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom he said he was ‘using as an instrument’ to hold informal talks with the US, and apologised for doing so.