MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky held a telephone conversation with US presidential candidate Donald Trump (Republican) over his fear of losing power in Kiev, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.

"It is illustrative. The ‘pocket dictator,’ Zelensky, I mean, has rushed to call Trump after the assassination attempt on him. <…> ‘Nothing personal,’ as we say - just the fear of losing the power over Ukraine, no ethical sense. They are ready for anything just to retain this power," she said.

Zakharova recalled the words of former Ukrainian armed forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, who admitted that Zelensky "had won" his powers in Kiev in exchange for Ukrainians’ lives. "It is obvious that these views will repeatedly lead ordinary Ukrainians to the Kiev regime’s atrocities. All of this is done just to extend the agony of Zelensky and the gang," the diplomat concluded.