Zelensky: if the US and Europe do not buy Russian oil and gas, the war will soon end

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Bucharest, Romania, on the eve of his trip to Paris, where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron. The Ukrainian head of state will meet his counterpart, Nicusor Dan, and visit a training base for F-16 fighter pilots used by Kiev to counter the Russian invasion.

Tomorrow Macron will welcome Zelensky to the French capital, where they will discuss, among other things, "how to increase the pressure on Russia" after four years of war, "in particular by fighting its shadow fleet," the Elysée announced. The two leaders "will also discuss the conditions for a just and lasting peace and, in this regard, will review the commitments made within the framework of the Coalition of the Willing regarding security guarantees," the French presidency said.

The Ukrainian president is also expected tomorrow afternoon at Sciences Po for an exchange with students organised by the Parisian university. The meeting will also be attended by students from universities belonging to the "Global Coalition of Ukrainian studies". The meeting is part of the so-called 'Grandes Conférences de Sciences Po', which in recent weeks, in the midst of the crisis linked to Donald Trump's expansionist aims on Greenland, has seen students talking to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. An exchange moderated by best-selling author of 'The Wizard of the Kremlin' and 'The Hour of Predators' Giuliano da Empoli.

"If the United States and Europe are strong, if they do not buy Russian oil and gas, if the people abide by the principles they declare, and if the pressure on Russia is strong and clear - if all this works properly, the war will end as quickly as possible. If not, it will last longer than we estimate,' Zelensky himself writes in the meantime on X, who then adds: 'We wanted to sign aimportant drone deal with the US, but we needed the approval of the White House. It concerned different types of drones and air defence systems. They operate as one system and can defend against hundreds or thousands of Iranian 'shahed' and missiles," the Ukrainian leader says. "We have not yet had the opportunity to sign this document. I hope that perhaps our American friends will be closer to this decision now, especially after the challenges we are experiencing in the Middle East."

Kiev, however, faces heightened tensions with Viktor Orban's Hungary, just weeks before the parliamentary elections in Budapest. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó reports that he spoke with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin, "who informed me that Ukraine has launched several attacks against critical TurkStream pipeline infrastructure in Russia". "Ukraine already blocks our oil supplies and is now targeting our gas supply as well. TurkStream is essential for Hungary. If the pipeline were to be interrupted, the security of Hungary's gas supply and that of several central and south-eastern European countries would be at risk," complains Szijjártó, who explicitly accuses Ukraine of trying to impose a total energy blockade on Hungary in order to interfere in the elections and support the opposition Tisza party. The head of Magyar diplomacy then called on Zelensky and the Ukrainians to stop attacks on Hungary's critical energy infrastructure and to 'stop interfering in our elections'.