If Vladimir Putin thought he could break Ukraine’s resolve by firing missiles and drones at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to deprive people of electricity, heat, and water as winter approaches, he is underestimating his opponent as he did when he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
In an interview for Czech television, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked: “Mr. President, what will be the first thing you will do after victory? “ (Hint: He’s not going to Disneyland).
Zelenskyy replied with a laugh: “I will go to Crimea. I really want to see the sea.”
Asked when this will happen, Zelenskyy replied: "Not in winter. What can you do at the seaside in winter? I’ll go there when it’s warmer.”
The Ukrainian president was then asked whether he expects Ukraine’s victory next summer. “I wish. I want that. We’ll have our victory. I hope it will be soon.”
Zelenskyy was asked about calls for Ukraine to engage in diplomacy with Russia. He replied that Ukraine has to fight to de-occupy its territory. “You don’t have time for this diplomacy because they lie. It’s not diplomacy. … Yesterday they said we are ready, Ukraine is not ready. And today they attacked us by 54 rockets. They are crazy. … How can we speak if they attacked us with 54 rockets? … I think they live in another planet. It’s not about compromise or no compromise, of course only victory.”
Zelenskyy added that only when Russian troops have left Ukrainian territory can the two sides come up with solutions of how to live alongside each other. Any negotiation that would leave Russia in control of some Ukrainian territory—whether the Donbas region or Crimea—would not stop the war but only result in “a frozen conflict” that could erupt again.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s biggest mistake since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 was its failure to build a strong security position. "For the past 30 years, I believe we have not built a strong security position. And we did not expect Russia to take such aggressive steps, war steps, and bloody steps. This, I think, is the biggest mistake of our policy."
"One war in this century for Ukraine is enough," he added.
Here is a video of Zelenskyy’s interview with Czech TV. He speaks English in two segments at the 13:00 mark and at the 20:30 mark with the quotes cited above.
Ukrainska Pravda reported on other notable segments of the interview. Zelenskyy said he was not sure whether Russia would use nuclear weapons, but declined to assess Russia's actions. "What they say in Ukraine: ‘There will be no use of nuclear weapons’ - “Oh, let's think about how to use it’ - so I don't want to give this assessment because there is such a threat. I think that there is no need to be afraid of this, there is no need to be afraid of Russia. ... Do not link Russia's ultimatums or the fulfillment of their conditions with the fact that if you do not comply, they will use weapons. These are unrelated things."
Zelenskyy also said he knows Russian better than the Russian occupiers heard on intercepted phone calls. "There are a lot of intercepts (conversations of Russian soldiers which are made public by Ukrainian security services). ... I know the Russian language much better than those people who communicated with each other. Then such a thing as swear words. ... They communicate with their parents with these words all the time … “If you communicate with your parents like that, it’s understandable why you behave like that ... That is, these are uneducated, ill-mannered, cynical animals.”
Zelenskyy admitted that he did not expect that in the 21st century people are capable of such atrocities as the Russians, who killed for an umbrella, a kettle, a toilet bowl.
