Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko says US President Donald Trump’s latest remarks about Ukraine were “not pleasant to hear”.
But speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he says: “It’s not about someone being offended, we’re not in a kindergarten – it’s too serious.”
“We’re being killed here every day, we’re dying here every day,” he adds.
Honcharenko stresses that “no matter who says what – our task should be to end the war” with Ukraine’s sovereignty being preserved.
“We don’t need just to be sitting at the [negotiating] table. Our aim should be a deal under which we keep our sovereignty, which means: our army, our military production, our right to make choices where we’re moving… European Union, Euro-Atlantic integration,” he tells the programme.
At the same time, the MP says “we can’t lose the Americans as our allies in our situation” and “we need to rally Europe around us.
“Because President Trump rightfully said: between the United States and Russia there is an ocean, but between Europe and Russia there is just Ukraine,” he says.