On the evening of February 4, British journalist Piers Morganʼs YouTube channel released an hour-and-a-half interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Hereʼs what they talked about.
Negotiations with Putin
According to Zelensky, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and Europe should be at the peace negotiations table.
"If this is the only way we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, we will definitely go to this meeting with these four participants. I will not be nice to him [Putin], I consider him an enemy and, frankly, I think he also considers me an enemy," said President Zelensky.
Elections in Ukraine
The president says he is open to elections. However, he noted that during a war, they are impossible not only for legal reasons, but also for moral ones: after all, the military, millions of citizens in temporarily occupied territories and abroad will not have access to them.
"The war will end, the hot phase of the war will end, and when martial law ends, elections will be called. This is necessary. We are defending democracy, so this is necessary," the president added.
Losses of Ukraine and Russia in the war
In the war against Russia, 45 100 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and another 390 000 were wounded.
Regarding Russian losses, Zelensky said that the Russian Federation lost approximately 350 000 soldiers killed. Another 50 000-70 000 are missing, and 600 000-700 000 were wounded.
Return of occupied territories
"Today we cannot return all our territories. We are adequate people and cannot lose millions of people for the sake of a result that is not yet a fact that will happen," Zelensky said.
He noted that the current assistance from partners is not enough to completely oust the Russian Federation from the occupied territory of Ukraine. However, he is confident that Ukraine will eventually liberate the occupied territories.
"We will return the territories — it can be a combined approach: here military on the battlefield, as our military does, somewhere through diplomacy. But still, we will return our land, because we are right and we have not violated any aspect of international law and moral law," Zelensky emphasized.
Alternative to Ukraineʼs accession to NATO
The President emphasized that the fastest way to move to a diplomatic resolution of the war is to guarantee Ukraineʼs accession to NATO today. If Ukraineʼs accession to the Alliance is delayed, then Ukraine must return its nuclear weapons.
“Will they give us missiles in such quantity that we can stop Russia? I’m not sure. [...] And what missiles can stop Russia’s nuclear missiles? This is a rhetorical question. Let’s do it this way then — give us back our nuclear weapons,” the Ukrainian president said.
He also noted that in this case, partners should provide missile systems, help with financing the "million-strong army", and send their contingent to "that part of our country where we want stability".
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