Zelenskyy: Ukraine has ‘low chance to survive’ without U.S. military support

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Happy Friday and happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours. In today’s edition, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker sits down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich. Plus, we have a look back at the week that was for President Donald Trump in the courts. And Jonathan Allen writes the recent upheaval at the Justice Department is reminiscent of the “Saturday Night Massacre” during the Nixon administration.

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Zelenskyy: ‘Very difficult’ for Ukraine to survive without U.S. military support
By Alexander Smith and Alexandra Marquez
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” Friday that it would be “very, very, very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without U.S. military support, both now as it tries to repel Russia’s invasion and in the future after the current war ends.

“Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “But we will have low chance, low chance, to survive without support of the United States. I think it’s very important, critical.”

“I don’t want to think about” fighting against Russia without American support, Zelenskyy said, adding, “I don’t want to think that we will not be strategic partners.”

Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to come to the negotiating table not to end the war but to get a ceasefire deal that would lift certain international sanctions on Russia and would allow the Russian military to regroup.

The backdrop: Zelenskyy’s comments came during a fractious summit in Germany, where Vice President JD Vance criticized European leaders on a host of issues unrelated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including failing to stand up for “values shared with the United States of America.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presented his own unvarnished view in response, saying that the Trump administration had “no regard for established rules, partnership and grown trust.”

The widening gulf between Europe and the United States comes at an especially delicate time for Zelenskyy and an exhausted and depleted Ukraine. While the war appears to have descended into a quagmire, Russian forces have been making slow if painful progress. Russia controls some 20% of the country, which is in dire need of weapons and soldiers.