OLENA ROSHCHINA – THURSDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2022, 17:05
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that there ought to be no negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he is not entirely adequate and, moreover, a terrorist at his core.
Source: President Zelenskyy in an interview with ZDF, a German public-service television broadcaster
Quote from Zelenskyy: “Chancellor’s [Olaf Scholz’s] attitude to me and to us has changed, as has our attitude to the chancellor…I think the war has allowed the chancellor to see the consequences of the fact that the Russian president is saying one thing and doing something entirely different. And I’m not just talking about [Putin’s] public statements, but about [his] private promises…
I think that the chancellor has realised that one shouldn’t trust the Russian president and that Ukraine has been right [about this]. We have spent a long time knocking on Germany’s […] doors, we wanted those doors to open and we wanted to be heard: [we wanted our belief that] we are really dealing with people who are not entirely adequate and [that] it is difficult to make agreements with inadequate persons [to be heard].
They might make a promise but immediately break it. These are terrorists who no longer know what they want. Because every day their position changes depending on their emotions. The chancellor understands this better now, and I’m grateful [to him for that], it has a significant effect [on the course of events].”
Details: In the same interview Zelenskyy said that he made several attempts to talk to President Putin before Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine, but the Russian side did not want to talk to him. But now, after they have invaded Ukraine, the Russians are claiming that they want to negotiate.
The president of Ukraine is prepared to talk to those who want peace. In contrast, Putin talks about negotiations while his forces launch hundreds of missiles on Ukraine and its critical energy infrastructure.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “[Putin] is inadequate, he does not understand that [his actions] are only uniting us further. Moreover, either he doesn’t want our countries to have any meaningful dialogue, or he fails to understand that [Russia’s] each missile strike diminishes the likelihood of our negotiations to the point of its complete disappearance.
For Ukraine right now, [Putin] stands for a terrorist that no one wants to talk to. What could there possibly be to talk about? As a country that wants peace we say: ‘Yes, of course we will talk to Russia, but with another person [at its helm]…Someone will materialise [in Putin’s place].’”
Details: Zelenskyy believes that European leaders must also make it clear to the Russian Federation that they will not negotiate with Putin.
“[Putin] is threatening us all with nuclear weapons…We must tell the Russians loud and clear: we cannot talk to him […], we don’t want to deal with terrorists,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president explained that Russia has resorted to nuclear blackmail and threatening Europe with a cold winter because for the past many years Russia has been allowed to do so.
“Europe would bend over backwards, but that’s not the thing to do; you must look one another in the eye. I’m not saying that the Russians had to bend over backwards. All countries have to be equal and to look one another in the eye. The only thing left for the Russians to do will be to apologise, because no one is going to simply forget what they’ve done. One country should not tell the whole world how to live, whether to heat their homes or not,” the president said. Referring to Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, he added that it should not be “using the same gas needle” as Russia.
Additionally, Zelenskyy believes that “as long as someone is an occupier, they must be completely cut off” from the rest of the world; showing weakness is not an option because it would enable Putin to keep “chipping away” at Ukraine’s territories.
According to the Ukrainian president, Europe has to make it through this winter in order to put an end to Russia’s threats and blackmail.
Zelenskyy also said that Putin can end the war and save his life by withdrawing from Ukraine and “hitting historic pause”.
Putin, according to Zelenskyy, must be afraid that he will be “devoured” by his own people, though not until the Russians are brave enough to “open their eyes and see the truth”.
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