Vladimir Zelensky, February 28, 2022 in Kyiv – PHOTO BY AFP
On Thursday, the Ukrainian president called on Westerners to increase their support, saying that if his country was defeated by Russia, it would attack the rest of Eastern Europe to reach the “Berlin Wall”.
“If we disappear, God forbid, then it will be Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, etc … Next to the Berlin Wall, believe me,” said Vladimir Zelensky, believing that the Kremlin could aim to restore the entire European the sphere of influence of the USSR.
He also called on Westerners to impose a no-fly zone over his country. “And if you do not have the strength to close the sky, then give me planes!” He exclaimed during a press conference in Kyiv, reserved for foreign media. The Ukrainian president also said he was ready to talk to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
“Leave our land!”
“Not that I want to talk to Putin, but I have to talk to Putin, the world needs to talk to Putin, because that’s the only way to stop this war,” he said. “. But Vladimir Zelensky also challenged his colleague, who ordered the invasion of his country a week ago: “What do you want from us? Leave our land! ”
Before starting: “Sit with me at the negotiating table. But not thirty meters, as with (Emmanuel) Macron or (Olaf) Scholz. I’m a normal person, I don’t bite! Sit down with me, tell me what you think I’m afraid! ”So he mocked the very long table at which the Russian president received his Russian guests as foreigners because of the drastic health protocol that protects him from Covid-19.
“Every word is more important than a shot”
Asked about the ongoing talks in Belarus between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, he said there were “things we need to find compromises on so that people stop dying”. “But there are things where it is impossible to compromise. We can’t just leave with the words ‘yes, this country is yours, Ukraine is part of Russia.’ It’s impossible. You don’t have to offer it to us.”
However, Vladimir Zelensky stressed the importance of diplomatic dialogue. “Every word is more important than a shot,” he concluded.
Original article published on BFMTV.com