Vladimir Zelensky spoke about the prospects for negotiations with Russia, the future of Vladimir Putin and again called on the West to shoot missiles at Ukraine.
On May 20, 2024, exactly five years have passed, allotted for the president to fulfill his duties. However, due to the war and the impossibility of holding new free elections, under martial law, Vladimir Zelensky continues to exercise his powers. On the anniversary of his presidency, the Ukrainian head of state spoke to Reuters.
Correspondent.net collected the main points of this interview.
About powers
The journalist asked Zelensky how he thought he was able to cope with his job during the 5 years of his presidency, to which he replied: “My five years are not over yet, because of the martial law they continue.”
“I cannot analyze my activities, I think that the point of view somewhere from the outside is always fair and I will not argue with this point of view and have no intention of always being in the middle,” Zelensky said.
He added that he was glad to be president of someone who did not “back down” and accepted the challenges that came their way. “I am proud to be the president of Ukraine, this is my attitude for these five years,” he said.
In negotiations with Russia
Zelensky explained that Ukraine does not want to invite Russia to the peace summit in Switzerland so that it does not disrupt the process, and it will be attracted through mediators at a later stage.
Zelensky again explained that Ukraine opposed Russia’s invitation to the first peace summit in Switzerland, because “they (the Russian side) block everything, disrupt everything, will not rest until they show one or another plan for the end of the war, which would be an ultimatum – as we have seen it many times.”
“This initiative cannot be given into their hands… The agenda cannot be Russia’s agenda. It is a war against us, and therefore there is justice in it,” Zelensky said.
The President mentioned that the participation of many countries of the world in the summit is a signal that they recognize the “foundation” generally proposed by Ukraine, even if they have their own clarifications or proposals.
According to him, the idea is to develop a common position of the countries on the main three issues under discussion, and then inform Russia about it.
“These three points, if supported by all countries, as I said, they will develop a technical step-by-step plan and then present it, pass it on, talk to Russian representatives among others different platforms in different countries… And then Russia has to respond to most of the world.” , Zelensky explained.
About Putin
Zelensky noted that talks with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin are impossible, because the head of the Russian Federation is not an independent figure, and is in a vacuum of hostility towards Ukraine, supported by his entourage.
“This is the problem, he has brainwashed people and he is in an information bubble – wanting to destroy us fair dialogue here today”, noted the President of Ukraine.
According to Zelensky, the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland is one of the formats where it is necessary to prepare the ground, “a strong document and more pressure on Russia.”
“He (Putin) will not always be strong, he is aging, he will die in any case. Then it will be difficult to return it like after 2014 (it was) with Crimea and Donbass No matter how hard it is, they did not defend… Donbass, Crimea… and everyone started to forget don’t think about Ukraine for so long, everyone has their own challenges within this wave of information and cannot be left alone… but today not all people in the West are as strong as they were at the beginning of the mass invasion however , has strength and cannot surrender He (Putin) is not an independent figure now, he is a wave that provides that Ukraine is governed by the United States of America, and he himself is mainly driven by big money. .. His entourage keeps him in this system just to get him out of the Kremlin feet first.
ABOUT “rashke”
At the end of the interview, Zelensky called Russia “Rashka,” emphasizing that the Russians are enemies for Ukrainians, and for an enemy there are no feelings.
“I just want us to remember that our strength lies in our love for Ukraine, and not in some relationship with Russia. They are no longer Russia – they are Russian,” the president said.
About the West
Zelensky said that Ukraine’s partners should stop being afraid of escalating the war against Russia and should show stronger political will to support the Ukrainians.
“It’s a matter of will. But everyone says one word that sounds the same in all languages: everyone fears proliferation. Everyone is used to the fact that Ukrainians are dying – for people this is not an increase,” said the president.
The participation of the Polish Air Force in repelling Russian attacks on Ukraine will not lead to Poland being drawn into the war. Instead, they could destroy the missile, potentially detonating a gas storage facility or causing civilian casualties in a NATO country, the president added.
As Zelensky said, in the western regions of Ukraine there is not enough air defense. At the same time, there are planes in Poland that do not perform their functions.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.