Kyiv
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to CNN on Monday, asking President Donald Trump to “stay by our side.”
Speaking at the presidential palace in Kiev on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Zelenskiy said the United States is too big and too important to withdraw from the conflict. And they expect Trump to use Tuesday’s State of the Union address to support Ukraine in fighting back against President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
“They … have to stay in a democracy that is fighting against one person, because this person is a war. Putin is a war. It’s all about himself. It’s all about one person. And the country, his whole country, is in prison,” Zelenskyy told CNN.
“If they really want to stop Putin, America will be very strong,” he said. Asked if he thought Trump was putting enough pressure on Putin, Zelenskyy replied: “No.”
In a wide-ranging and sometimes emotional interview, President Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukrainians are exhausted by the conflict. But he said giving in to Putin’s demands was never an option.
“We can’t just give him everything he wants, because he wants to occupy us. If we give him everything he wants, we will lose everything. All of us, the people, will have to flee or become Russians.”
Now, as the war enters its fifth year, trilateral peace negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States have yet to reach a breakthrough.
President Zelenskiy told CNN that security remains a sticking point, particularly the question of how Ukraine’s allies would react if Russia invaded Ukraine again in the future.
He said Russia continues to be told it has no intention of starting a new war. “This is not the answer for me. I’m sorry,” he said.
“These security guarantees are good, that’s true,” he said of the commitments currently under consideration. “But I want a very concrete answer: what are (our) partners ready to do if Putin comes back? This is what Ukrainians want to hear,” he said.
Zelenskiy said there were also disagreements over the steps toward peace. President Trump wants President Zelenskiy to sign a peace deal with Russia and an agreement with the United States and European countries that provide security for Ukraine all at once, ideally in a large ceremony marking the end of the war.
But President Zelenskiy is adamant that security guarantees must first be agreed to and ratified by the US Congress. He said this would give the Ukrainian people confidence that they can rely on their allies in the future, as they have been let down many times in the past.
On another thorny issue, President Zelenskiy told CNN that Ukraine is ready to freeze the war on the current front. But he said Ukrainian forces would not withdraw from the eastern region of Donetsk, which is still under their control.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine give up about 20% of the area still under Kiev’s control, including the “fortified zone” of industrial cities, railways and roads that form the backbone of Ukraine’s defense and provide supplies to the front lines.
“Russia just wants us to withdraw our troops. … We can’t do that, sorry, stupid people. We’re not children. We’ve been through this war for years. So we can’t just hand over our country to them,” he said.
“It’s very important what kind of security there is for the people who live there…200,000 people live there,” Zelenskiy said. “What do I have to say (to them) and what do our soldiers have to say – ‘Okay, goodbye, goodbye, we’re leaving. Are you Russian from this moment on?’
Zelenskiy also addressed the election and his future. He was elected in 2019 for a term until May 2024, but remains in power because Ukraine’s martial law prohibits holding wartime elections. But Trump has suggested that elections should be held in Ukraine and even called Zelenskiy a “dictator.”
“It’s very interesting to see the presidents of various countries, including the United States and Russia, talk about the Ukrainian elections,” Zelenskiy said in an interview with CNN. “What do they want? Another president? Okay,” he said, wondering if he thought another leader would back down in front of Russia.
Zelenskiy said it was unclear whether President Trump would want someone else to be Ukraine’s president. “I don’t know,” he said. “He didn’t tell me.”
pain and honor
Zelenskyy spoke to CNN after an award ceremony for Ukrainian fallen soldiers. One after another, President Zelenskyy addressed the beloved dead, thanking them for their sacrifices and offering words of comfort.
The pain was evident on his face as he handed out the medals to the sobbing mothers, wives and young children of those who died in the brutal and bloody war.
“It’s an honor to give orders to the mothers and fathers and husbands and wives of these heroic people who are not with us, who are only in our hearts. But it’s very painful and it’s very emotional,” he later told CNN.
“I want to do it. I think it’s important to (receive) that from the president. And for me, it’s very important to give it to them. I always have to find time for that.”
