Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a chilling prediction that Vladimir Putin ‘will die soon’ as the Russian leader faces renewed speculation about his health.
Ukraine’s President begged for the US to ‘stay strong’ as a tentative ceasefire on energy infrastructure attacks appears on the brink of collapse.
Zelensky made the claim during a sit-down interview with journalists in Paris after he met French leader Emmanuel Macron in Paris yesterday.
Speaking in Ukrainian, he said: ‘Putin fears losing his power.
‘He will die soon, and that’s fact, and it will come to an end.’
The comment has added fuel to rumours the 72-year-old Russian leader is battling ill-health.
Putin allegedly has four doctors permanently on duty at his man official residence, according leaked documents.
Last October, the Kremlin had to deny he had serious health issues after he was admitted to a Moscow hospital undergoing regular examinations.
A famous incident in June 2022 saw the Russian president grip a table so hard his veins started to bulge during a meeting with then-Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
He also appeared slouched and was slurring his words.
Putin also seemed frail and off-colour while meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko last May to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine.
During the wide-ranging interview, Zelenksy also discussed European support for Ukraine and the shaky Black Sea ceasefire brokered by the US on Tuesday.
Zelensky said that Putin is trying to ‘hit the European Union from within’, referencing Hungary, whose leader Victor Orban has cozied up to Russia.
This dig at a European power comes as Starmer and Macron prepare to host another summit of the ‘coalition of the willing’ today in Paris.
All eyes are currently on the success of a tenuous ceasefires agreed between Russia and Ukraine this month.
Both sides agreed to a 30-day pause on attacks on energy infrastructure last week.
However both countries have now accused the other of breaking the terms of the tentative U.S-brokered deal and disagreed about when the energy ceasefire was meant to have begun.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukrainian drone attacks hit an electric facility in the Bryansk region early Wednesday and a power grid facility in the Kursk region the day before.
Zelensky’s communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said there had been ‘eight confirmed hits on energy facilities’ from Russia.
Despite this Ukraine and Russia agreed to an naval ceasefire to the Black Sea this week.
Zelensky said of these fragile negotiations: ‘A ceasefire in the Black Sea is first of all important today and for the Russians.
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‘They have not controlled the corridor in the Black Sea for a long time.’
On the energy side of the deal, he added: ‘I don’t want to lie.
‘There were no Russian attacks on energy infrastructure tonight. But there were Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure.
‘Ukraine did not respond with energy sector [strikes] either.’
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