President Zelenskyy has made a renewed appeal to Donald Trump amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The war started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the violence has continued ever since.
Efforts by international leaders to broker a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia have fallen short, but President Trump has made it a priority to achieve this objective since resuming office earlier this year.
After his first term as president, Trump developed a connection with Vladimir Putin and plans to leverage this relationship to resolve the conflict, which, according to the United Nations, had resulted in over 12,600 fatalities by February 2025.
The death toll has since risen due to a recent Russian missile strike on Sumy, which occurred yesterday (April 13). At the last update, 34 individuals were confirmed dead from the attack.
According to local authorities, two ballistic missiles hit the city’s center at approximately 10:30 am local time during Palm Sunday celebrations.
Photos from the aftermath depicted rows of black body bags along the roadside, with additional bodies covered in foil blankets amidst the wreckage. An additional 117 individuals were injured, including 15 children.
Trump responded to the strike by labeling it a ‘mistake’.
“I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” he mentioned to reporters aboard Air Force One during his return to Washington yesterday evening.
He did not clarify whether he meant the assault was accidental.
The incident coincided with the release of a new CBS 60 Minutes interview featuring Zelenskyy.
In the interview, Ukraine’s president encouraged Trump to visit Ukraine and witness the destruction caused by the ongoing war before making significant decisions involving the US, Ukraine, and Russia.
Zelenskyy conveyed this message: “Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”
He also expressed his feelings of ‘100 percent hatred’ towards Putin.
“Though this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to end the war as soon as possible and transition to diplomacy,” he added regarding the pursuit of a peace agreement with Russia.