Zelensky says Gaza ceasefire deal gives hope for future peace with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that President Donald Trump’s successful mediation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas gives him hope for future peace with Russia. 

The Ukrainian leader said he spoke with Trump as the American president was readying to travel Sunday to the Middle East to mark the end of the hostilities and expressed to him that, with American diplomatic assistance, a similar ceasefire could be achieved in his country’s war against Russia, which has raged on for over three years. 

Zelensky thinks Trump’s pressure on the Hamas terrorist group, which included sending weapons sales to Israel, was vital for securing the ceasefire and could be used as a blueprint to push Moscow into a similar settlement.  

“It gives signals for us and hope that with such pressure, what President Trump used in the Middle East to make peace, I hope that he will use the same instrument, even more, to pressure Putin to stop his war in Ukraine,” Zelensky said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”

On that same phone call, Zelensky said he and President Trump discussed ways to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses and the possibility of acquiring American-made Tomahawk missiles, which would allow the Ukrainian army to strike vulnerable targets deep inside Russia.

Trump warned Moscow on Sunday that he was considering providing Ukraine with the long-range missiles if the war was not settled soon. The comments came after his call with Zelensky. 

“I might say, ’Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”

To date, Russian President Vladimir Putin has rebuffed attempted by the American president to negotiate both a ceasefire and final peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war.