“The war will end when Ukraine wins” clarified the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with ERT. Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Russia had violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and sought full invasion of the country after Crimea.
“On February 24, Russia launched a full-scale attack, a full-scale war, a full-scale occupation by Russia on Ukrainian territory. That was the reason for the harsh sanctions: murder, occupation, illegal invasion. The war is not over yet, we have not returned to our territories, unfortunately Russia is still on our soil, it continues to exert pressure. Nothing is over. “I am just surprised that the issue of lifting sanctions is being raised,” he said.
“There is no price for the lives lost,” the Ukrainian president said, denouncing killings by Russian forces.
“We do not trust Russia” The Ukrainian president said that the Russians “say other things and do other things”, while noting that they “hit” Kyiv even when the UN Secretary General was there.
He noted that civilians in Azofstal steel plant in Mariupol “are afraid to go out because they are being killed”, while he stressed that the secretary general UN assured him that the civilians of Mariupol would reach Ukrainian territory.
What he said about the Azov Order
Regarding the Azov Order, he stressed that today “it is part of the armed forces of Ukraine”, while noting that Mariupol is not protected only by the Azov Order. “What the Russian soldiers are doing is Nazism,” he said.
“Since the beginning of the war, there has been a lot of information from the Russian side about groups of volunteers and Ukrainian volunteer battalions. This was in 2014, when volunteers from different parts of our state came together to protect Ukraine. Then we did not have as strong an army as we have today. Indeed, they were volunteers, ordinary people and the armed forces were fighting. Really, the reactions to the statements of these volunteer battalions varied. Because many of these statements were quite radical about the Russian Federation. They were volunteers. It was their personal point of view and their personal steps.
There is also the Ukrainian armed forces, and I want us all to understand the difference. There is also the Order of Azov, which is not made up of volunteers, but it is part of the National Guard of our state. Today it is part of the armed forces and all of them are official army of our state. Some of those who volunteered at the beginning of the war turned to politics and stayed there. Those who decided to continue in the armed forces of Ukraine, became military and are part of the armed forces of Ukraine. They are two different things.
Mariupol is protected by professional soldiers, it is protected not only by the Azov Order. There is also a national guard, border guards, commandos, there are the armed forces of Ukraine. And with all due respect to any volunteers who have done so much since the beginning of the war, we must understand that no one can fight as the Ukrainian Armed Forces do. Whatever the volunteers were – we are grateful to them, but with so much courage to protect Azovstal and Mariupol only professional soldiers can.
We believe that what the Russian soldiers are doing in our country is Nazism. On the other hand, I want to tell you that I, as President and our team, are following all developments very closely. And if there are challenges or calls for radicalism, I believe that in our state there are far fewer compared to other countries in the world. I think we have almost none of them. Despite the fact that we have a war and we could understand it. “In the event that such radical statements take place, believe me, we watch them, we take them very seriously, we stop and immediately take such steps.”
Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that Ukraine needs partners and friends, “Otherwise we will not defeat Russia.” “The people of Greece support us and I’m grateful “ stressed the President of Ukraine.
“I draw the attention of Turkey”
Asked for the contradiction Turkey Volodymyr Zelensky replied that “when you are at war, you must do what you can to unite the states around you, even those who have historically had difficult relationships. We must do everything to have all these states on our side, because Ukraine needs partners and friends. Otherwise we will not be able to defeat the Russian Federation that attacked us. I will be completely honest with you – for example, we have the support of Turkey and we have the support of Greece. I will tell you honestly, that we have questions for both Turkey and Greece. This is life, and each state has its own interests and interests. On the other hand – we have the support of the government, the state leadership and we have received this help. I am grateful for that. Here we are. I would like everyone in Greece to support us, I would like them to choose our side, everything happened, the main thing is that now we have the support. And the most important thing is that the people of Greece support us and I am grateful for that. On the other hand, I understand that in Greece a large part of the budget revenues comes from tourism. Of course, Russian tourism has brought a lot of money to Greece for many years.
We believe that they make money by shedding blood, and that money is spent. The same goes for Turkey. On the one hand, Turkey acts as a mediator and supports Ukraine with important steps, and on the other hand, we see, for example, preparing several tourist routes at the same time. Especially for Russian tourism. We see that too. And I, as President, if we want to have friendly relations, I must say this, that it is not possible to do so. You can not deal with it that way, they are double standards and weights. This is not fair. For this I draw the attention of Turkey in such cases, I believe that it can not be so, because a choice must be made – are you in favor of the truth or not “.
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