Zelensky told Trump that Putin was lying to him about the progress on the front - Axios
Axios quotes Volodymyr Zelenskyi, who also said in a 35-minute phone interview that US intelligence confirmed his words, also showing that "no one is winning on the battlefield right now. " According to President Zelenskyi, Ukrainian intelligence found that Vladimir Putin privately boasted to allies that Russia would occupy the entire Donbas by October 15, which did not happen. "Russia cannot do this. It does not have enough people. Its strong battalions have been destroyed.
Today, on the battlefield, we remain in almost the same place where we have been for the past 2-3 months," Zelenskyy said. Zelensky said that, according to his generals, Russia lost 346,000 soldiers killed and wounded in 2025. This practically corresponds to the number of those mobilized for the same period, he added. Estimates of Russian losses vary widely.
The president of Ukraine said that Donald Trump's new sanctions will hurt the Russian military machine, but Ukraine still needs long-range missiles to force Vladimir Putin to make peace. According to him, sanctions "will matter", but Putin will not give in if Trump does not increase the pressure. Zelensky mentioned the conversation between Lavrov and Rubio, noting that it "was not positive. " "They did the same after Alaska.
This is the third or fourth time that Putin and his entourage have rejected what Trump says," Zelensky said. It will be recalled that after the summit of Putin and Trump in Budapest broke down, the Russian president urgently sent his special representative Kirill Dmitriev to the USA. Dmitriev has already met twice in Miami with White House special representative Steve Witkoff.