Ukraine Has 'Low Chance' of Survival Without US Backing, Says Zelensky

Ukraine has little chance of surviving Russia's assault without US support, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday after phone calls this week by US President Donald Trump with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

- Agencies

WASHINGTON/MUNICH:

"Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance - low chance to survive without support of the United States," Zelensky said in an interview on the NBC News program "Meet the Press".

An excerpt was released on Friday from the interview, which will be broadcast on Sunday.

Trump discussed the war on Wednesday in separate calls with Putin and Zelensky, in the US president's first big step toward diplomacy in a conflict he has promised to end quickly.

Trump later said he did not think it was practical for Kyiv to join NATO and that it was unlikely Ukraine would get back all its land. Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.