Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Zelenskyy: We are not waging a war, but Fighting for Survival; Zelenskyy: 2023 will be the Year of our Victory; Zelenskyy Marks One Year since Russia's Full-Scale Invasion; Zelenskyy: Only the Country where war is being fought can start a Peace Initiative. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 24, 2023 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: --weaknesses, weaknesses in Ukrainian institutions in the EU on the continent in general and other
international institutions as well. How do we change them? A different security infrastructure will emerge after the victory in the war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody from Ukrainian media --. Thank you. Good afternoon. Mr. President you mentioned China and its views not--
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, its 6 pm in Kyiv, in Ukraine, and that is the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking. He has
been talking about where this war is at, and where it goes from here? And his hopes and fears, as we of course, mark one year into this vicious,
aggressive war by Russia in Ukraine. I'm Becky Anderson. It's 8 pm here in Abu Dhabi. Hello and welcome to "Connect the World".
Well, today marks one year since Russian troops crossed Ukraine's border and irrevocably altered the global political landscape. Since day one, CNN
has been on the ground bringing the world the latest updates on this war, that coverage literally began when the first Russian tanks rolled over the
border.
ZELENSKYY: He's talking about us. China is talking about us. What can I say territorial integrity, absolutely. Yes, I believe there is respect for
territorial integrity in there. It doesn't say whose territorial integrity but our country's territorial integrity has been violated.
Talks about nuclear security that's important. That is consistent with the interests of the world and our country. There are some points that I can
understand some thoughts. There are some thoughts I don't agree with or even the whole world doesn't agree with.
But nevertheless, it is something and I believe that it would be correct to think that if there are thoughts that are consistent with respect for
international law, territorial integrity, and certain security issues I believe that we need to use it in the good sense of the word and work with
China on this, why not? Our task is to gather everybody to rally everybody to isolate somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Question four up from Azerbaijan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings, Mr. President. What do you think of ports your country receives from post-Soviet countries over the last year? What
reforms do you expect in Ukraine after your victory in the war? And what steps will you make externally and domestically? Mr. President, my son asks
for a selfie with you, is it possible?
ZELENSKYY: Let's start with your child. I understood that's the main thing. Colleagues, that's a bad example. Don't do this again. What can I say about
the actions or the support of Azerbaijan? The answer is in your question. I believe this if an Azerbaijani journalist is asking this question in
Ukrainian. He has made his choice between Russia and Ukraine. Thank you for your support.
As for President Ilham Aliyev we are in touch with him. We are talking. We are grateful for his various supports that he has extended to Ukraine and
he respects sovereignty. This is a number one issue today for our country. He respects Ukraine's territorial integrity. He believes Crimea is Ukraine.
Thank you.
[11:05:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: General Milley said that Russians cannot be fully pushed out of Ukraine; do you think he is right? And how can Americans
continued support help?
ZELENSKYY: First of all, I know General Milley personally. I met him, and I did not hear this from him. I respect the views of the military, especially
among our partners who support us all the time and lead support. And if General Milley really thinks so I probably would have heard these thoughts.
Secondly, everything depends on the support. So General Milley he wants us to push the enemy out of our country more quickly. He will be decisive in
speeding up this support. As regards the U.S. support on the whole I will add something.
The main thing was the visit by President Biden, so the - there are financial assets, there are weapons, and a lot depends on the President on
the Congress and above all, on the support of the American public. I was in Washington and I saw this report. I could see people standing with our
flags, and every window flies, both American and Ukrainian flag, I can see powerful support from the United States.
But that's about the physical presence of finance, weapons, humanitarian aid here. And there's also faith in victory. And that was President Biden's
visit. And that was the main signal. Milley did not visit. We have invited him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sky News.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that Ukraine can win on the battlefield? Do you or do you believe you will have to sit down to
negotiate and maybe even accept some compromise? Even talk to Vladimir Putin. Also, about 20 NATO member states have increased their defense
spending since the start of the full scale invasion of Ukraine. In your opinion, should all NATO states increase their defense spending?
ZELENSKYY: There are several questions if I forget something, please remind me. I think it's important that 20 countries yes, there are 20 countries,
but a lot of countries in the world have started increasing their defense budgets. So this is quite a complex question and it will have a complex
answer.
How well somebody important asked, how should we reform the world's security institutions? And you're asking about an increase in defense
spending, and here's the answer. Ukraine has and war in Ukraine has pushed the reset button on NATO.
Everybody understands that the systems aren't perfect, that more powerful things are needed. I'm not talking about weapons, or ammunition, there are
cyberattacks, there's information and dependence and many, many different things drones, IT there are a lot of state of the art technology, and it's
not universally effective.
Of course, some people may be increasing spending. But on the whole this is also a reform of security systems. And I believe this is right because
everybody has seen what you can expect of the Russia Federation.
[11:10:00]
ZELENSKYY: And here, we can talk about negotiations and compromises. So now that everybody has seen, nobody's gone off to buy flowers. They've gone off
to buy weapons. So everybody thinks there's something wrong with the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation.
Nobody's developing business with Russians on the contrary, they're introducing sanctions. So sometimes you may feel the pain from these
sanctions, but everybody understands that today, you may be a fed this gas, and tomorrow you will be called because somebody some person may think why
don't I take your territory, your business, your influence, create a party in your country, impose my own Prime Minister?
And I don't care if this is the EU, U.S. or Asia I have decided this person thinks. And therefore everybody now understands that they need
independence, not on paper, but all kinds of forms of independence, to defend their society, because this is what he can do. This is what he's
done with independent Ukraine yesterday, so called comrades a neighbor.
So that's what's been happening. And so after all this, we are coming back to the first part of your question, after once everybody has seen how they
kill and torture? And regardless of seeing this, they attack. They don't even hide their attacks.
Why not talk about the nuclear attack? Why not seize power stations, nuclear stations? Why not use the Iranian drones and kill people? Not
people with guns but children? And so after all this after this worldview, do you saying we Ukrainians can now negotiate with all this? I don't know
what this is. I don't know. They call it - here.
I don't know what it is so that's your answer. Let's start from the beginning. Let's start from what's been violated. That's number one. Please
respect our right to live on our own land. Leave our territory. Stop bombing us. Stop killing civilians. Stop killing our whole infrastructure,
energy system drinking water.
Stop the bombardment of cities and villages. Stop killing dogs, cats, animals, and burning forests. Stop all this and then we will tell you how
we will put an end to this diplomatically?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next is - Ukrainian Newspaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greetings. I want to come back to the main subject of our press conference, the year of war. It's time to draw some interim
conclusions. And I want to ask, can you recall your personal worst day in the war and worst night? Humans can make mistakes. What has been your
greatest mistake during the war? And number three, who among your team has disappointed you?
ZELENSKYY: Thank you. Who's disappointed me? Can I start with that thought? I forgot your first question. It's been rather tense. Who's disappointed
me? All those who left on the 24th, all those who left Kyiv, those who left cities and villages those among the leaders of the state or those who are
meant to defend the state and fight for it. All those people disappointed me. My greatest mistake I don't know probably enough of them.
[11:15:00]
ZELENSKYY: From morning till night, I have to make decisions, and I'm only human, whoever people might want me to be otherwise. I am a living being.
And I'm sure I do make mistakes. The main thing is for me as President not to make fatal errors through which I as the guarantor of the Constitution
and the country's defense could lose it.
Thank God, I have not made such an error. And you also asked your worst day, the worst day the most frightful day. Bucha I think, what I saw when
it was liberated, it was scary. To see the devil, the devil is on earth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Japanese TV company NHK. Please ask one question at a time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The G7 summit is happening in Japan in May. Will you join it? Japan has been the only G7 country that has not yet visited
Ukraine. What role does the G7 play in supporting you?
ZELENSKYY: We have full support from the G7. Japan 40 minutes ago, 40 minutes before our meeting, I had a conversation with the G7 and Ukraine
was invited. We received a lot of support.
Some of this information will be open.
And but a lot will be confidential. In terms of what support Ukraine needs and what the G7 is prepared to give us. There's a large package of support,
including from Japan. I will focus on Japan. I'm grateful to the Prime Minister.
He understands this very well. He's very direct. I have come to appreciate the value of people like that. I understand the support. I understand the
amount that the Prime Minister will agree with parliament because there's a certain structure for approving support.
I don't remember the detail. But I am sure of this. I can feel the support and the messages received from the G7. I was invited by the Prime Minister
to Japan. We received this invitation earlier through diplomatic channels.
The Prime Minister of Japan has been invited many times by me and he was in favor of visiting. He is a welcome guest in Ukraine. Japan is a welcome
country in Ukraine. They have done a lot to support Ukraine. What role was played by Italy in the EU? And what role was played by Japan in the g7.
I think one day after the war is over; we can talk about it in detail. This is an important role and a very positive one and powerful and I'm very
grateful for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CDF.
[11:20:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, a year ago, everybody wanted to see you, what about now. Now you travel the world? Do you feel safer? Are you less
of a target for Putin?
ZELENSKYY: I have always thought that as for Putin's thoughts, the Germans will be better informed than me. Nevertheless, what am I doing? My task as
President and the leader of our country is by no means to even allow the thoughts of a weakening of support for Ukraine; I believe that the unity of
the world is my main task.
Whether I do it well, or not well, I definitely am not doing it alone. And it was difficult at first; there were some tough conversations with all,
with everybody, both formal and informal. And there was a time there was that time. And then later, you know, morning comes to the ocean. And
everybody saw that we asked indeed, stronger, this isn't just us accumulating weapons; we need these weapons to survive.
We are not waging a war, we are fighting for survival. And there was this stage, and then it was difficult. And there was fatigue at first, and
that's fair, that's fair on everyone. Everybody has domestic issues, challenges, problems, prices, inflation, energy, what Russia did, food
security crisis, the sea was blocked various, various crisis.
And people are people, they have their own pockets. Yes, they support Ukraine in their heart. But that's the heart. But they also have pockets;
they also have their own families. And it was important to get to, to get through to everyone to say that this isn't our war, we also fighting for
them, that Russia are designing these prices, to weaken your support to accuse Ukraine.
And my task is not to allow the weakening of support for Ukraine in the world. And again, I'll stress I did not do it alone. Our whole team was
working on it, the office, the foreign ministry, the cabinet, everybody, the parliament, everybody who wanted to do it.
And these are important things. And then there is a time when it's just has to say thank you to the world, that they didn't leave you alone, that they
didn't betray you. And even those who wanted to betray you did not. And that is important, because you are grateful to them. And now they have
their own domestic challenges with their own public and I wanted to help to, I wanted to come and support these people.
And that is absolutely fair. That did a lot. I don't know how many people have been saved by these countries and Germany too made a great
contribution. Financial within the EU in terms of weapons and tanks, whether someone likes it or not, that's a fact. And I wanted to do it and
to visit and to be honest to open a new page of new opportunities. Air defense, planes, tanks, long range weapons, these are my tasks that I must
discuss --.
[11:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DFM.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmanuel Macron, President Macron said recently that he wants Moscow's defeat. But he doesn't want Moscow to be crushed. Is this
consistent with your view on victory? He also spoke about your worst day during the war. But what has been your happiest day in the war? Many
countries indeed began to talk about what would happen after defeat.
ZELENSKYY: And I think this is, in terms of NPR after Moscow's defeat, as you said, I think after NPR terms, this is important for Ukraine, to have
the faith of the societies the faith of leaders, because leaders always rely on the sentiments in their countries. And this was a signal to us that
the majority of countries in Europe believe in Ukraine's victory, and that means they believe in Moscow's defeat, that's the conclusion.
And so, the main question is what will happen to Russia? Is that what you mean? To be honest, I don't care. To be honest, they have their own
country, and they need to think about their own country. If they thought about their own country, there would be no war. If they thought about their
own freedom of speech, democracy, economic reforms, their own people, poverty, slavery, they would have been a wealthy country because they have
natural wealth.
But that takes time to take some thinking, the way we are working with thinking. So, we don't have time to think about another country. We're
thinking about ourselves, our survival, our fight, fighting COVID is like fighting COVID.
Remember, that was a huge challenge for the world, when all reasonable countries thought what they could do for their societies, or they nobody
thought what else they could do against somebody. So that is the question for Russia, for their history and their future. I'm not thinking that.
And so, I want to say certainly there's a wrong, everybody's entitled to their view. I believe the elite's business, which absolutely, it has been
absolutely fair to sanction, put sanctions against them the great business of the Russian Federation, the real estate abroad, the - everything.
Of course, they don't like these very rich people, and their children were educated abroad. And that is their right. But now, they don't have it, they
don't have this comfort. What do they have? They have what remains inside Russia. Do you think they will allow 2040 Russia's, do you think they will
share their business?
Do you think that when everything is blocked for them abroad? Absolutely fairly, I believe. Do you think they will not think how to keep this
Capitol inside the country? Well, we think too much about others. I think they will sort it out among themselves. More pressure, more sanctions, more
isolation for Russia and their elites, the more we do it, then the sooner will they start thinking what they ought to do inside their country so that
new politicians can sit down.
ANDERSON: Well, marking a year on in this war, the Ukrainian president holding a wide-ranging press conference taking questions from journalists
from around the world. And there really have been examples of questions coming in from journalists from many parts of the world.
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: We are not waging a war. He said we are fighting for survival. And he thanked the world for sticking with Ukraine. Let me bring in our
Senior International Correspondent back with us this out from Kharkiv. Sam Kiley, you are back where you and I talked one year ago, a year into this
conflict, you've been listening to the Ukrainian president, and what do you make of what you heard?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think a great deal of it to be honest; Becky was him being asked to repeat his long-
standing positions on a wide range of subjects.
So, whether it's responding to the latest Chinese, so called peace proposals, him saying, reiterating that Ukraine has made its own series of
plans for any future peace talks, the central elements of which would be withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory before any kind
of peace talks could be committed to is, I think, a repeat of his position.
I think one of the interesting things there was quite a broad hint about what he said he'd had some talks recently with the G7. And that, whilst he
couldn't go public with everything that he had claimed that he got from that he was trailing and saying, well, there's going to be some good news
in the near future.
There's been a lot of this sort of hinting, coming from the Ukrainians, particularly when it comes to those strategic weapons that they've been
asking for now. G7, of course, is a not a military alliance, it's an economic alliance. So perhaps he's talking there about a greater level of
financial support.
Because, of course, I've read recently in the local press here that, according to the government, the spending on the war is equal to the
national budget of peacetime here in Ukraine. So, if that's the case, this is a country that desperately needs some external aid, no course has been
getting a very substantial amount of aid from the EU and others.
Notably, also, he reminded the Japanese that they were the only ones of the G7, who hadn't paid a government-to-government visit sort of pilgrimage, to
Kyiv, but they're saying that the like the Japanese Prime Minister's direct approach, again, indicating a positive vibrations there. And this is all
part of Zelenskyy's external sales pitch.
He is a brilliant representative of Ukraine to the international community internally, he's not controversial, but he's not worshipped. He is not the
figure that he is seen to be by the international community for the international community. And you and I know this from anecdotally from
being asked, what's he like, you know, when we're outside of the country.
You know, well, I mean, you know, he's doing a really good job, but internally, he's doesn't have universal support, but they do recognize in
Ukraine that he's very, very good at selling the needs that Ukrainian faces externally. Internally, the focus is so much more directly on the war and
tries to win it rather than any kind of cult of personality. And I have to say, that's not something that Zelenskyy has tried to build for himself,
either.
ANDERSON: Yes, no, no, you make a very good point. And I did think it was interesting to note that he made no bones in this press conference about
the power of messaging of media about the importance he said to reach out to two parts of the world that he didn't think that the Ukrainians had sort
of as much support as he would hope from that being Latin American.
I think there was an answer to a journalist from Mexico, asking you a question. And indeed, he noted that he hadn't got the sort of support he
might hope for from Africa, either. Fascinating, you make a very good point. And at the end of the day, many Ukrainians minded, not about, you
know who, whether or not you know, this is a man who has sort of incredible statesman like sort of qualities with Ukraine's allies around the world.
This is about what's going on, on the ground. A year in where are we at and what do you make of Zelenskyy suggesting today to the troops, at least this
is a war that can be won this year in 2023.
KILEY: Yes, I think it's an interesting boaster to boast, he has to kind of make to keep the momentum going to keep the troops as motivated as they can
be. If you look at the sight statements he makes and his Defense Minister Reznikov there frequently referencing for example that the leopard tanks
the German made leopard tanks supplied by various NATO countries are coming soon.
[11:35:00]
KILEY: They're not strategic weapons; frankly, they'll make very tactical differences on the battlefield, their battlefield replacements equal to a
T-72. They're not even equal to the best of the Russian tanks. But they're important things to mention in terms of keeping the troops motivated that
making sure that the troops on the ground know that they haven't been abandoned by the international community.
So, when he's talking in that direction, of course, talking back in the other direction, he's saying to NATO and other allies in the west look,
thanks so much for the leopard tanks, but we need these other bits of equipment too. And then we get these broad hints that maybe some good news
is coming, possibly about jets, possibly about long-range artillery.
They're also manufacturing their own longer-range artillery and drones to try to get in and reach behind the Russian lines and try to break the back
of the logistic supply chain, because they've got to do that in order to win this war. But I think I mean, and I've spoken to a lot of military
analysts, particularly Ukrainians and Ukrainian commanders.
They do say that if they get the right weaponry, they could definitely win this war outright, inside a year, if they're given the right equipment. The
subtext to that is they may not have very much longer in terms of the highly motivated personnel that they're still able to draw on because they
are carrying very heavy losses.
Now, that doesn't mean that they're going to collapse that they can be routed again, I think that that's close to impossible, even with a new
Russian offensive that has been much promised than that we may be seeing the early stages of over the last few weeks, Becky.
I don't think the Russians really have the motivation or even the power to punch through to reclaim the territories that they captured a little over a
year ago, but they do have the potential to freeze the conflict here. And that from a Russian perspective would be a victory. This is what Ukraine is
facing whenever they come under pressure to start talking peace or accept compromises if they allow.
And this is the Ukrainian argument if they allow Russia to remain on Ukrainian territory. That means that Russia has an infinite infinity of
time to try to continue to destabilize Ukraine to continue to destabilize her internal politics, prevent Ukraine from being a stable democracy, much
less joining the European Union.
And ultimately, that is success because it is a stable democratic pro- European Ukraine that is a personal existential threat, ultimately to one Vladimir Putin, Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam, it's good to have you. Your insight and analysis is so important on what is a, let's call it a momentous day; it could be
described in many different ways. We are a year into this grinding war of attrition as described by the Secretary General of NATO.
Let's get you back to what is a wide-ranging press conference being held by President Zelenskyy in Ukraine, a room full of journalists from around the
world. And he's pretty much taking sort of questions on everything. And it's been fascinating to listen to, let's get you back there.
ZELENSKYY: Then that point would not be acceptable in the sense that is in which it is formulated. If that is so do you have a question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anadolu (ph) Agency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Can I ask in Russian, if Turkish President Erdogan prepared a table for negotiations in Ankara and
Putin were there, would you join?
ZELENSKYY: Are you from Turkish TV?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anadolu News Agency.
ZELENSKYY: I have just spoken to Erdogan just before the news conference, we had a nice conversation. Yes, I express my condolences. You know, that
was a great tragedy for us. And when the president spoke to me about the earthquake, we sent our specialists as I asked him, how many do you need?
We'll send as many as you need. And that's what we did.
We also send transport planes and we did all of that. That is also our pain, human loss as a country at war; we take every loss of life as our own
loss. I am grateful to President Erdogan for all his initiatives, green initiatives and everything else. I know what he did, I know how he helped
with the Azov fighters and I'm grateful for that.
[11:40:00]
ZELENSKYY: We were able to get back the guys that could have been executed. Not all of them, unfortunately. But he did it. He did a number of things
that were important for Ukraine, and I'm grateful for that. He knows my position. As for what you said, I don't accept it. He knows my view, I have
spoken to him. And we discussed this before the war.
I told him to put Putin in at the table for negotiations; we please do that we must not - must avert a full-scale war. But he wasn't able to do that.
Not only him, he is powerful, but he wasn't able to do it. And now he thinks he is. Now we can't. It's not the same man. There's nobody to talk
to there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Ukrainian News. With your permission, I would like to talk about domestic issues. I know. There are a lot of international
issues. The Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in 2021 impose sanctions on 100 Ukrainians from the so-called blacklist the U.S.
blacklist.
These are the people who were under sanctions. And among them, there were many well-known businessman and former officials. But also, certain people
were missing from the list that should have been there, for example, Mr. - who is now goes by the name of Rosenberg. In 2021 the U.S. treasury imposed
sanctions on him, but he's still not under sanctions.
And I think you know who he is? I don't quite know. Well, he is investigated for anti-Ukrainian activities. And how, why is it that in the
ninth year of war, and in the second year of full-scale war, people from Yanukovych's team still are able to have business in Ukraine. His assets
are not frozen and he is not under sanctions.
ZELENSKYY: OK, wait, let's talk about it. I don't really know who that is beginning to understand who you're talking about. If the United States
proposed a package of sanctions, we imposed similar sanctions. If somebody were dropped from the sanctions list, we can correct it. If the person is
guilty, we can do it very quickly.
You must understand that we're talking about hundreds of people thousands now, who were under sanctions. I can't say one or I can't know everything
about each of them. If you have evidence, then let's do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Budanov, I don't know who he is. The so-called Reznikov Budanov case. We know what happened and what didn't happen. You know what
I'm talking about, right? I wanted to hear from you what really happened. Ask me a question. Is it true that you wanted to replace Minister of
Defense Reznikov with Kyrylo Budanov?
But for some reason, you couldn't appoint him. Why? Because the Minister of Defense must be a civilian and Budanov is the military man and he isn't
this isn't legal. Is it true that you had conversations with Mr. Budanov and Mr. Reznikov on this?
ZELENSKYY: Thank you for your question. First of all, decisions I take as the supreme commander in chief about the people involved in the security
and defense of our state, I'm not going to publicize them.
[11:45:00]
ZELENSKYY: And one of these decisions was the security situation in certain regions and in certain institutions, where I had thoughts and not about
this ministry, but about the infrastructure that was supposed to support our defense and security that needed to be strengthened with the military
or the intelligence people or with officials, as regards to the situation in certain regions, which are border regions, let's say.
And the temporarily occupied regions or regions bordering on temporarily occupied regions, and that was what was discussed that I wanted to appoint
our main intelligence officer as the Minister of Defense. That would be done only within the law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel TV 24 Hour News.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Regarding Iran, last week, you said that Israel and Ukraine have a common enemy, the Iranian regime. How is Israel
helping Ukraine to cut Iran's military assistance to Russia by some military means? And also, there were reports about Israel strikes on
Iranian military infrastructure, did that help Ukraine?
ZELENSKYY: Thank you for your question. For a long time during this war, I have thought support from Israel not only from the population, but also
from the political leadership from the various agencies. It was important for me and it's historically important.
Ukraine has historically wonderful relations with Israel. And we had many conversations at different levels with different officials, public and
private, in various formats and in the various territories. And it was difficult to change the views, because Israel is in a difficult situation
with Russia regarding Iran, Syria and so on.
But I wanted them not to be a mediator in the floor, but to choose a side. And of course, I wanted them to choose Ukraine's side, because I cannot
imagine how Israel could support a war waged as a country that has been involved in wars for decades. I couldn't imagine this and I want to respond
to you.
I know all the answers, but I cannot give them to you. I cannot, I cannot risk improvement in the relations between Ukraine and Israel, which has
begun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next Australia. Most of your allies have reopened their embassies in Kyiv. Australia has certain reservations in terms of security,
what would you like? Would you like the Australian Ambassador to return to Kyiv? And what the effect would be?
ZELENSKYY: It's nice to see a journalist to whom I can say yes.
[11:50:00]
ZELENSKYY: And it's very important yes moment. And I don't want now to share all information, how many we've got from Australia, but anyway, we've
got it. And that is great. That's why to shake him, the Ambassador of Australia; I'll do it with pleasure. Please come. Come back. But on
Bushmaster we need one more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bollywood let's go Brasilia, Brazil. President Lula wants to assist negotiations. Have you discussed this proposal with him?
And you know, Brasilia, Brazil has helped with Iran, but they have their own approach to sanctions and weapon deliveries. What do you expect from
Brazil? And when will you talk to President Lula?
ZELENSKYY: I have invited the president to Ukraine. I would like to meet him. I would like him to assist me and provide a forum so that Latin
America can hear Ukraine. I appreciate Brazil steps with sovereignty and in territorial integrity, supporting us, especially now. And I, I am looking
forward to our meeting. I wanted to see him one to one. Then he will understand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Netherlands. Mr. President, thank you very much. Do you think you will see President Putin in The Hague one day in court? And you
have just met --. And you discussed F-16 jets. We heard that Ukrainian pilots might be trained on F-16s in the Netherlands. Is that true?
ZELENSKYY: See, both your questions are very much up to --. Both the Hague situation and the possibility of delivering jets so, I believe it is
important for Ukraine to have very powerful strong relations with --, they're very good. But regarding what you said, yes, of course, the
important thing is to finish the justice issue.
You can't kill such a large number of civilians; first of all, it is impossible to leave this unpunished without a response as is being proposed
by certain politicians. Let's find a way out of the situation. What do you mean a way out? What's happened, a lot of people have been killed. And
that's Russia's leader, the leader of a major power and they must be accountable.
This isn't a child, a child who's broken something and then you can forgive them. But this is a different time. There is a different time when you need
to be held accountable. You need to face justice in court before the law. We can joke and we want to see this. This isn't some kind of fun you can
have with popcorn, this is a tragedy, a lot of murdered people.
[11:55:00]
ZELENSKYY: And Justice must be delivered for this and I believe that it will be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you remember when MH-17 was brought down? There were many Dutch people on that plane. Do you share a common goal to make Putin
face justice? Because then the Dutch investigation found that President Putin personally decided to bring down that plane just as he personally
decided to invade Ukraine. And I wanted to give you a photo.
ZELENSKYY: I received various presents from various countries. My security team always says that you'll see these presents later, but I never see
them. They never come to me. Look, what makes routers strong, and what makes your system strong? And what makes a strong result in court?
I believe that The Hague and the Netherlands and Mark, sometimes, as we said, we think justice takes a long time and a lot of efforts. But what's
important and what I like about you is that you always take it to the completion. So, I'm very much looking forward to completing both the MH-17
case and the Ukraine case.
ANDERSON: You've been listening to the Ukrainian president marking a year on in this grinding war of attrition as it has been described holding a
wide-ranging press conference, taking questions from journalists around the world. It's been interesting because what we've seen is Zelenskyy's
perspective on so many countries through the prism of taking these questions from individual journalists, we are not waging a war, he said we
are fighting for survival.
He has thanked the world for sticking with Ukraine. And he has been quite marked in his criticism of some countries who he believes are not providing
as much support as perhaps they would. This is marking a year on since the invasion by Russia. We are taking a very short break, back with Zelenskyy
after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
