“I think he had enough time, a lot of time, to understand who Putin is,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired Sunday. “I think he was sitting in such a high position that it’s not even possible not to recognize it [Putin] it is the rival in terms of values for your own people. He [Trump] it has all the power of this country – intelligence, data – to create [a] psychological profile”. Zelensky said he was “surprised” by Trump’s behavior “even after the beginning, with a full invasion.” “Perhaps he needed it to advance his domestic policy to show that he is ready to find understanding with the President of Russia,” speculates Zelensky. “Ukraine in his eyes is very far away. But this war has no distances that it could not cover, so I think he should look at the situation without, as we say, wearing rose-colored glasses,” Zelensky said, as translated by CNN. Trump praised Putin’s military moves leading up to the invasion in February as “genius” and “I get it,” comments that drew ire even from some in his own party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) dismissed Trump’s “genius” comments, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said his “service” to the Russian president “helps our enemies” . Jan. 6 panel set to resurface with eye on Newt Gingrich Kamala Harris says domestic threat makes US ‘weaker’ After the invasion, Trump said he was “surprised” that Putin had gone through with the attack. “I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border. I thought he was negotiating,” Trump told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “I thought it was a tough way to negotiate, but a smart way to negotiate.”
