Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi considers Russian dictator Volodymyr Putin an "animal" and sees no prerequisites for peace talks. In his opinion, the battle for Crimea will become central in the current war, and there is really no alternative to increased mobilization.
According to the head of state, in the new year, Ukraine will not back down from its plans to return the borders of 1991, but at the moment the president does not name specific terms. The help of Western partners is important in this process.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview publication "The Economist", summing up the results of 2023 for Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky is angry, but not because of the successes of his enemies (he does not see them) and not even because of the lack of progress of the army on the battlefield. The President of Ukraine is irritated by the instability of some allies, as well as the aloofness of some Ukrainians.
Hardened by the hardships of war and the failure of a promising counteroffensive, he lost the lightness and humor that had characterized his earlier interviews. After the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Zelensky woke up the world and mobilized the country with a 32-second video recorded on his phone in which he simply said: "We are here." He and his team are still in the government compound in Kyiv.
Russia is still striking Kiev, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa and elsewhere, but the world is not listening as closely and the chief communicator no longer controls the agenda as it did two years ago. Fatigue is setting in in Ukraine, and headlines in the West are asking whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has started to win. Aid to Ukrainians has become a subject of political bargaining in America and Europe.
About the existential threat and the opinion about Putin's victory
According to Zelenskyi, the West has lost its sense of urgency, and many Ukrainians have lost their sense of existential threat. Now he is trying to revive both.
"Maybe we didn't succeed (in 2023) as the world wanted. Maybe not everything is as fast as someone imagined," he says.
But the idea that Putin is winning is no more than a "feeling." The reality is that Russian troops are still milling about in places like Avdiyivka, where Zelensky recently returned. British military intelligence sources estimate that Russia will lose more than 2025 killed and wounded by 500 on current trends.
"Thousands, thousands of killed Russian soldiers", he emphasizes.
According to him, Putin's army failed to take a single major city in 2023, while Ukraine managed to break the blockade of the Black Sea and is now sending millions of tons of grain along a new route along the southern coast. "A huge result!" - declares the president.
However, in a war that has turned into a mobilization of resources, the belief of Ukraine's supporters that victory has become impossible risks depriving it of the money and weapons it needs to win. Fatalism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On the support of allies. "Putin feels weak like an animal"
Next year is very important in this regard. As Russia's military efforts gain momentum and Ukraine's resources are depleted, the focus of the US and many European countries is turning to domestic politics in an election year. Zelensky's task is more difficult than ever, and the stakes are higher than ever.
Central to Zelenskyi's arguments is the fact that by supporting Ukraine, Europe protects itself from Russian aggression.
"By giving us money or weapons, you are supporting yourself. You are saving your children, not ours." he warns darkly.
If Russia is allowed to take Ukrainian children, they will take other children as well. If Russia violates the rights of Ukrainians, "it will violate other rights in the world." If Ukraine loses, Putin will bring his war closer to the West.
"Putin feels weak like an animal because he is an animal. He feels the blood, he feels his power. And he will eat you for dinner with all your EU, NATO, freedom and democracy." Zelensky added.
He defends his point of view: "Perhaps something is missing. Or maybe someone disappeared. Someone who can talk about Ukraine as protecting all of us." European countries should put pressure on America to support Ukraine for their own sake.
"The special services of a number of European countries began (considering, - ed.) the possibility of an attack on their territory by Russia... Even those countries that were not part of the USSR," - the president noted.
About negotiations with Russia
As for proposals for negotiations, Zelensky does not see "any fundamental steps forward towards peace on the part of Russia." Instead, Ukraine is experiencing a flurry of air attacks on cities in the east, south, north and west.
"I see only the steps of a terrorist country" - noted Zelensky.
And if Russia is sending signals about wanting to freeze the conflict, as some Western media report, then “it is not because they are righteous, but because they do not have enough missiles, ammunition or trained troops. They need this break. Restore all your strength. And then turn the page of this war with all your might."
About how Crimea will become the epicenter of the war
Zelensky says little about what Ukraine can achieve by 2024. According to him, the leak of information before the counteroffensive last summer helped Russia prepare its defenses.
But if it has a message, it is this Crimea and the related battle on the Black Sea will become the epicenter of the war. The isolation of Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and the degradation of the Russian military potential on the peninsula "extremely important to us because it's a way to reduce the number of attacks from that region," he says.
In his opinion, a successful operation in Crimea would be "an example for the world." It would also have a big effect inside Russia. The loss of a central element of Kremlin propaganda would show that "thousands of Russian soldiers died only because of Putin's ambitions."
Ukraine is already winning incredible victories on the strategically important peninsula, destroying a significant number of ships of the Black Sea Fleet. British officials say a fifth of that fleet has been destroyed in the past four months alone. Losing the naval bases that Russia has maintained for the past 240 years would be a huge shame for Putin.
However, the speed of any success depends on military assistance from Western partners. Zelensky invited the German long-range Taurus low-visibility cruise missiles capable of detonating deep inside the target. They can destroy the $4 billion Kerch Bridge, effectively isolating Crimea from Russia.
"Russia should know that this is a military object for us," — says Zelensky and believes that Germany is not the only Western country standing in his way.
About the next task
Zelenskyi is even less frank about the targets in the east and south. The declared ambition to return to the borders of 1991 has not changed and will not change. But the president no longer sets a time frame and makes no promises about which territory Ukraine can liberate in 2024.
His immediate task in the land war will be "protect the east, save these very important cities of Ukraine, the east and the south, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv", as well as critical infrastructure of their country.
About self-reliance
The inflated expectations before the 2023 counteroffensive partly led to disappointment. In a November interview with The Economist, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhnyi, acknowledged the stalemate on the battlefield. While this initially provoked an angry reaction from Zelenskyi, it also provided an opportunity to change his message.
In order to withstand the grueling war, it is necessary to mobilize not only the West, but also, first of all, Ukraine itself.
"We have to consider our strengths," — says Zelensky.
Although he believes America will eventually provide military aid, Ukraine is also ramping up its own production in case Western supplies run short. He repeated this message in his New Year's address, which was less optimistic than last year's.
As part of "plan B", he asks the American government to grant Ukraine licenses for the production of weapons, in particular for artillery systems and missiles for air defense.
About mobilization in Ukraine
The President believes that today there is no such mobilization of Ukrainian society and the world as at the beginning of the war, and this must be changed. Polls show that lowering the conscription age from the current 27 to 25 and reducing the grounds for deferment are unpopular. But Zelensky insists that there is no alternative.
"Mobilization is not only a matter of sending soldiers to the front. This applies to all of us. This 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've moved on to domestic politics." - noted Zelensky.
And this is a choice that Ukrainians will have to make.
"If we continue to focus on domestic politics, we need to call elections. Change the law, the constitution. But at the same time, forget about counteroffensive actions and deoccupation." he added.
The president, as before, is convinced that Ukraine cannot abandon its plan to defeat Russia.
"The most important thing that every Ukrainian can do at the moment is to be in Ukraine... and for our Western partners, to be with Ukraine... If you don't have the strength, then either leave or step aside. We will not back down." — believes Zelensky.
The question is whether the master communicator of 2022 can convince the rest of the world to share his thoughts.
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