Ukraine: Volodymyr Zelensky expresses frustration with Nato
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The Ukrainian leader said he is ready to sit down with Putin but warned that a failure to negotiate peace could start a third World War.
Mr Zelensky spoke with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday as the war in Ukraine has been ongoing for almost one month.
He said: “I’m ready for negotiations with him. I was ready for the last two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war”.
It comes on the same day the United Nations announced that more than 900 civilians are believed to have been killed since Russia’s invasion began on February 24.
The Ukrainian leader also noted Putin’s misguided views that he is “de-nazifying Ukraine”, warning that it could mean the tyrant is capable of doing “very frightening” things.
He said: “If there’s just 1 percent chance for us to stop this war, I think that we need to take this chance. We need to do that. I can tell you about the result of this negotiations – in any case, we are losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground.
“Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us. And we can demonstrate that the dignity of our people and our army that we are able to deal a powerful blow, we are able to strike back. But, unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve the lives”.
Zelensky said he hopes to find any chance to speak to Putin and try and put an end to the brutal attack.
He said: “I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, possibility of talking to Putin. But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a third World War.”
The courageous wartime leader refuted Putin’s claims his military are in Ukraine to remove “nazis” from power.
He said: “What we are having now in Mariupol, they had in Leningrad. Everybody knows how many people died in the blockade of Leningrad.
This was in reference to the German Nazis’ brutal military blockade of the Soviet city, which ended in a bloody battle with many deaths on both sides.
He added: “These people died because they did not have enough food and water. So who is the Nazi?”
Despite shooting down the allegations, the Ukrainian president feared Putin’s warped views could cause him to take “very horrendous steps”.
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He said: “The fact is that if he is serious about this statement he might be capable of very horrendous steps because that would mean that this is not a game for him.
“If he’s serious about it, if he thinks that this is his mission to conquer our territory and if he sees signs of neo-Nazis in our country, then many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions, for the sake of his mission.”
Zelensky also called on NATO to publicly declare its stance on whether Ukraine will ever join the military alliance.
He expressed his gratitude to NATO countries for their support and military aid but accused the alliance of keeping the country in a dangerous limbo.
The president said: “If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started. I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people”.
He added: “If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis.”
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