EXCLUSIVE: Zelenskyy tells me only Trump can stop Putin destroying Ukrainian churches, murdering pastors & priests, slaughtering civilians
Part One airs tonight on THE ROSENBERG REPORT at 9pm eastern on TBN
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Last week, I had the rare opportunity to travel to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to interview the most consequential and controversial leader in Europe.
President Volodomyr Zelenskyy and I spent 45 minutes in the Situation Room in the presidential compound talking about Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, the Alaska summit, war crimes, and NATO unity.
We also discussed the importance of protecting religious freedom, the tragic spike in Christian persecution, the importance of reading the Bible, the power of prayer, and why he recently hosted the largest prayer breakfast in Ukrainian history.
Tonight, the first half of our exclusive conversation will air at 9 p.m. Eastern on THE ROSENBERG REPORT, my prime time weekly program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most watched Christian television network in the United States and around the globe.
In the days to come, I’ll share with our ALL ISRAEL NEWS readers the full transcript of the interview.
But allow me to share with you now some excerpts.
PUTIN HAS DESTROYED MORE THAN 600 CHURCHES, ZELENSKYY CHARGES
“Some critics in the West, such as Tucker Carlson, have accused you of persecuting Christians, imprisoning priests, and shutting down churches,” I noted, asking, “How do you respond?”
Zelenskyy unequivocally rejected the accusation.
He argued that Ukraine today has stronger and more robust religious freedom than any one of the former Soviet republics, and especially more than Russia.
What’s more, he said that it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who is systematically attacking Ukrainian Christians, targeting and destroying Ukrainian churches, and killing and kidnapping Ukrainian pastors and priests.
“Those claims [that I am persecuting Christians] are false and manipulative,” Zelenskyy told me.
“Over 70% of Ukrainians are [Christian] believers, and our churches have always been free,” he said.
“In fact, there are over one million Protestants in Ukraine today.”
“The reality is that Russia has bombed more than 600 churches – destroying Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and others,” he added.
“In Odesa, they [the Russian military] even destroyed our main cathedral with missiles.”
Scores of Ukrainian pastors and priests have been murdered, kidnapped, and disappeared by Russian forces.
UKRAINE IS RESCUING CHRISTIAN PASTORS AND PRIESTS FROM PUTIN’S PERSECUTION, ZELENSKYY ARGUES
Zelenskyy was unapologetic that his security forces have arrested and imprisoned some Russian Orthodox priests operating on Ukrainian territory.
Why?
Because, he alleges, such priests have conspired to aid Moscow in the war, provide intelligence for Russia, and commit treason against the Ukrainian people amidst a war for his nation’s very existence.
“Our law simply states that no religious organization can maintain legal ties with an aggressor state,” Zelenskyy explained.
“That is not persecution,” he said. “It is national security.”
“In fact, we have rescued priests and pastors – Orthodox, Catholic, and Baptist – from Russian captivity, sometimes exchanging them for captured soldiers,” Zelenskyy told me.
“The question is not about us persecuting believers, but why Russia is imprisoning clergymen in the first place.”
PUTIN’S WAR HAS KILLED MORE THAN 1.4 MILLION PEOPLE
The war that Putin started by invading Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, is the bloodiest and most brutal in Europe since World War II and the Holocaust.
More than 400,000 Ukrainians have been killed or severely wounded – many of them innocent civilians – over the past 3 1/2 years.
Zelenskyy said Putin is specifically targeting Ukrainian civilians – men, women, children, and the elderly – for death and destruction.
Since Putin returned to Moscow after the Alaska peace summit with President Trump, Putin has unleashed one of the biggest bombing campaigns against Ukraine – and specifically against Kyiv – since the war began.
Just hours after our conversation concluded and my team and I returned to our hotel, Russia fired nearly 600 suicide drones and ballistic missiles, killing and wounding dozens of Ukrainians.
The following morning, I took our TBN crew to the site of an apartment building in Kyiv that was destroyed by a direct hit by a Russian ballistic missile.
This wasn’t an accident.
This was intentional.
First responders were pulling bodies out of the wreckage – including those of three children – as we watched.
ZELENSKYY: ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP CAN STOP THIS WAR AND RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE
Given all the horror he has witnessed, I asked the Ukrainian president if he has any hope at all that the war can come to an end, much less soon.
Zelenskyy’s answer was quick and clear.
Yes, but only American President Donald J. Trump has the power, personality, and experience to persuade Putin – an unrepentant war criminal – to stop the killing, end the war, and restore peace in Europe.
President Joe Biden wasn’t able to do it.
No European leader has been able to do it.
But Trump is different.
Trump projects strength, not weakness.
And after giving the Iranian regime an ultimatum to make a deal to shut down its dangerous nuclear program or face military attack, Trump demonstrated not just his resolve but his willingness to assert American power and reestablish American prestige.
“I told President Trump directly: we cannot trust Putin,” Zelenskyy explained, taking me inside his recent Oval Office conversations with Trump, which he described as warm, substantive, and very encouraging and unified.
“Putin will always find ways to delay [peace] negotiations” and keep waging war, keep committing war crimes. President Trump is the only leader in the world "who can put real pressure on Putin,” Zelenskyy said.
HOW CAN TRUMP EFFECTIVELY INCREASE PRESSURE ON PUTIN TO STOP THE KILLING?
Zelenskyy added that “Russia does not respect America. This is not news. They don’t respect your values.”
But, he said, “they respect power.”
“America has that power,” Zelenskyy told me, and Trump knows how to wield it.
“Putin always tries to manipulate, to buy time, to pause the [economic] sanctions.”
“But when the United States leads strongly, Russia feels pressure. That is what we need.”
How exactly does Zelenskyy believe Trump can, and should, and will do to dramatically ratchet up pressure on Putin to persuade him to end this war?
I hope you’ll tune into THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN at 9 p.m. Eastern and find out.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
