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Ukrainian president opposes territorial concessions for ceasefire and seeks long-term security guarantees from US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to convey a strong message of defiance.
When we met this weekend at the government headquarters in Kiev, he said that Ukraine, far from losing, would end the war with victory. He strongly opposed paying the price for a ceasefire agreement demanded by President Vladimir Putin, which would mean withdrawing from strategic territories that Russia has failed to capture, despite the sacrifice of tens of thousands of soldiers.
Putin, Zelensky told me, has already started World War III and the only answer is intense military and economic pressure to force him to back down.
"I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will manage to conquer and how to stop it... Russia wants to impose a different way of life on the world and change the life that people have chosen for themselves," the Ukrainian President said.
What about Russia’s demand that Ukraine hand over the 20% of the eastern Donetsk region it still controls, a string of cities that Ukraine calls “fortress cities” – as well as more territory in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia? Isn’t that, I asked, a reasonable demand if it produces a ceasefire?
“I see it differently. I don't see it simply as land. I see it as abandonment – a weakening of our positions, an abandonment of hundreds of thousands of our people who live there. That's how I see it. And I'm sure this 'withdrawal' will divide our society.”
But isn't it an acceptable price if it pleases Putin? Do you think it would please him?
“Maybe it would satisfy him for a while… he needs a break… but once he recovers, our European partners say it could take three to five years. In my opinion, he could recover in a few years. Where will he go next? We don’t know, but that he will want to continue [the fight] is a fact,” he said.
I met Zelensky in a conference room inside a heavily guarded government complex in an affluent area of central Kiev. In the interview, he spoke mostly in Ukrainian.
The weight of Zelensky's leadership is also evident in the dedication of his security guards. Visiting any head of state requires strict checks, but entering the presidential buildings in Kiev takes this process to a level I have rarely experienced before.
This is not surprising in a country at war, with a president who has already been targeted by Russia.
Pavarësisht kësaj, njeriu që e nisi karrierën si artist, që fitoi versionin ukrainas të “Strictly Come Dancing” në vitin 2006 dhe që luajti rolin e një presidenti të papritur në një serial televiziv përpara se të bëhej president në jetën reale, duket jashtëzakonisht i qëndrueshëm.
Presidenti amerikan Donald Trump deklaroi në prag të bisedimeve më të fundit për armëpushim në Gjenevë se “Ukraina duhet të vijë shpejt në tryezë”.
Ai vijon të ushtrojë më shumë presion mbi Ukrainën sesa mbi Rusinë.
Diplomatë perëndimorë kanë sinjalizuar që prej verës së kaluar se Trump bie dakord me Putinin që lëshimet territoriale nga Ukraina drejt Rusisë janë çelësi për armëpushimin që ai dëshiron, idealisht para kësaj vere.
Shumë analistë jashtë Shtëpisë së Bardhë vlerësojnë gjithashtu se Ukraina nuk mund ta fitojë luftën dhe, pa bërë lëshime ndaj Moskës, rrezikon ta humbasë atë.
E pyeta Zelenskyn nëse Trump dhe të tjerët kishin të drejtë.
“Ku jeni tani?”, u përgjigj ai, duke shtuar “sot jeni në Kiev, në kryeqytetin e atdheut tonë, në Ukrainë. Ju jam shumë mirënjohës për këtë. A do të humbasim? Sigurisht që jo, sepse po luftojmë për pavarësinë e Ukrainës”.
Zelensky ka thënë shpesh se Ukraina mund të fitojë, por si do të dukej fitorja?
Ai tha se fitorja nënkupton rikthimin e jetës normale për ukrainasit dhe ndalimin e vrasjeve. Por ai e përshkroi fitoren edhe në një dimension më të gjerë, si ndalimin e një kërcënimi global që, sipas tij, vjen nga Putini.
“Besoj se ndalimi i Putinit sot dhe parandalimi i pushtimit të Ukrainës është fitore për të gjithë botën. Sepse Putini nuk do të ndalet në Ukrainë”, u shpreh Zelensky.
A nuk po thoni se fitorja është rikthimi i të gjitha territoreve?
“Do ta bëjmë. Kjo është absolutisht e qartë. Është vetëm çështje kohe. Ta bëjmë sot do të thoshte të humbnim një numër të madh njerëzish, miliona njerëz, sepse ushtria [ruse] është e madhe dhe ne e kuptojmë koston e hapave të tillë. Nuk do të kishim mjaftueshëm njerëz; do t’i humbnim ata. Dhe çfarë është toka pa njerëz? Sinqerisht, asgjë.
Ne gjithashtu nuk kemi mjaftueshëm armë. Kjo nuk varet vetëm nga ne, por nga partnerët tanë. Prandaj, aktualisht kjo nuk është e mundur, por rikthimi në kufijtë e drejtë të vitit 1991, pa asnjë dyshim, nuk është vetëm fitore, është drejtësi. Fitorja e Ukrainës është ruajtja e pavarësisë sonë, ndërsa fitorja e drejtësisë për të gjithë botën është rikthimi i të gjitha tokave tona”, thotë Presidenti ukrainas.
Një vit më parë, Zelensky vizitoi Shtëpinë e Bardhë dhe mori një pritje që një diplomat i lartë perëndimor ma përshkroi si një “sulm diplomatik” të planifikuar publikisht nga Donald Trump dhe zëvendëspresidenti i tij JD Vance.
Debati i tyre, në prani të mediave botërore, u ndoq nga miliona njerëz.
Trump, newly inaugurated for a second term, sent a clear signal that the era of support that Zelensky and Ukraine had received from President Joe Biden was over. NATO members had already been put on notice by the new administration. Vance had just returned from Western Europe, where he had shaken expectations about the strength of the transatlantic alliance.
Since then, reportedly advised by British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, Zelensky has avoided public clashes with Trump.
The US has halted almost all military aid shipments to Ukraine. However, it continues to provide vital intelligence, while European countries spend billions to buy American weapons for Ukraine.
I asked the Ukrainian president to comment on Trump's often contradictory statements, including the accusation that Zelensky is a dictator who started the war - a claim that fits with Putin's narrative.
Zelensky laughed.
"I'm not a dictator and I didn't start the war, that's all."
Can you trust Trump? If you get a security guarantee from him, will he keep his word?
"It's not just about President Trump, it's about America. We are all presidents for certain terms. We want guarantees for 30 years, for example. Political elites will change, leaders will change," Zelensky added.
He implied that American guarantees must be approved by Congress to be sustainable.
"They are voted in Congress for a reason. It's not just presidents. Congress is needed. Because presidents change, but institutions remain," he added.
Zelensky said these security guarantees must be in place before he will consider calling general elections by the summer, a request he sees as similar to the Russian narrative that he is an illegitimate president.
Elections were scheduled for 2024, but could not be held under the state of emergency imposed after the large-scale invasion by Russia.
He said that holding postponed elections is technically possible if the law is changed, but he first sought security guarantees.
At the end of the interview, he was asked whether the world should prepare for an even longer war.
"No, no, no, there are two parallel paths... you are playing chess with many leaders, not just with Russia. There is no single right path. You have to take many parallel steps, in different directions. One of these parallel paths, I think, will bring success. For us, success is stopping Putin," he stressed.
Asked if Putin would end the war without great pressure, Zelensky replied:
"Yes and no. We'll see. Yes and no. He doesn't want to, but the fact that he doesn't want to doesn't mean he won't do it. God bless us. God bless us, we will succeed. Thank you," the Ukrainian President concluded his interview with the BBC. /Adapted from BBC /
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