President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the West has lost the sense of urgency of the war in Ukraine, and many Ukrainians have lost the sense of existential threat.
Source: Zelensky in an interview The Economist
Details: According to the publication, Zelensky is irritated by the hesitations of some of his allies, as well as the detachment of some of his compatriots. The West has lost its sense of urgency, he said, and many Ukrainians have lost their sense of the existential threat of war.
He notes that by supporting Ukraine, Europe is protecting itself from Russian aggression.
Direct speech: “Putin feels weakness like an animal, because he is an animal. He feels blood, he feels his strength. And he will eat you for dinner with all your EU, NATO, freedom and democracy.”
Details: “We may not have been successful [в 2023 году]just as the world wanted. Perhaps not everything is happening as quickly as some imagined,” Zelensky says, but the idea that Putin is winning is nothing more than a “feeling.” The reality, he says, is that Russian troops are still dying in places like Avdiivka.
“Perhaps something is missing. Or perhaps someone is missing. Someone who can talk about Ukraine as protecting us all,” the president added.
Zelensky also complained that the “mobilization of Ukrainian society and the world” that was present at the beginning of the war is absent today, and “this needs to change.”
Direct speech: “Mobilization is not only a matter of sending soldiers to the front. This concerns each of us. It is the mobilization of all efforts. This is the only way to protect our state and de-occupy our land. Let’s be honest, we have switched to internal politics… If we continue focus on domestic politics, we need to call elections. Change the legislation, the Constitution. But forget about counter-offensive actions and de-occupation…
The most important profession that a Ukrainian can do now is to be in Ukraine… and for our Western partners, to be with Ukraine… If you don’t have the strength, then either get away or step aside. We will not back down.”
More details: Regarding proposals for negotiations, Zelensky says that he does not see “any fundamental steps towards peace on the part of Russia.” But he and the Ukrainians feel a barrage of air attacks on Ukrainian cities in the east, south, north and west.
“I only see the steps of a terrorist country,” he said.
And if Russia is sending signals about wanting to freeze the conflict, as some Western media report, “it’s not because they are righteous, but because they don’t have enough missiles, ammunition or trained troops. They need this pause. To restore all their strength. And then, with all our strength, turn the page of this war.”
2024-01-01 20:36:48
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