Exclusive: Zelensky rejects ‘tall tales’ his forces need months of training to operate advanced weapons
Zelensky said in the interview from the office of the president in Kyiv that the weapons the US and other countries have provided to date, including the Biden administration’s new $800 million security assistance package, have helped his country resist Russia’s invasion. But he said that more would be needed, and his country’s trainers would be able to get his forces up to speed quickly.
“I have heard many times from certain states that did not want to give us weapons quickly because our soldiers are not ready, from a technical standpoint, to use them,” he added. “But instructors of such equipment, our instructors, will get our troops ready to fight in them. If it’s a plane, for example, pilots can be ready in two weeks. Whether it’s Kamikaze drones, artillery, Howitzers, or (multiple launch rocket system) MLRS complexes, we have very smart people for these.
Zelensky vows forces in Mariupol will not surrender
“They say they are ready to let all the military go if they surrender. But they are not going to surrender. They don’t want to do so and this is why it is a complicated and tragic situation because the military don’t want to surrender. And without it, Russians are not ready to let them go,” Zelensky said. “When you can make an agreement with Russians to let them go, unarmed, but after, what they will do is shoot them dead. That is why no one trusts Russia now.”
Zelensky added that Ukraine wanted to take away the wounded from Mariupol but Russian forces would not let them.
“We wanted to take away the wounded. We talked about it being a humanitarian mission. Give us the wounded back,” he said. “We even made plans for Turkey to be a mediator and get the wounded, civilians and the military. They don’t let them out because we understand Russia just wants to shoot them dead.”
“We wanted to take away the wounded. We talked about it being a humanitarian mission. Give us the wounded back!” he said. “We even made plans for Turkey to be a mediator and get the wounded, civilians and the military. They don’t let them out because we understand Russia just wants to shoot them dead.”
The situation in Mariupol is bleak. Much of the city has been destroyed by Russian shelling. Civilian structures targeted included a maternity hospital and a theater where up to 1,300 people were seeking refuge.
Though many have fled, an estimated 100,000 people still remain in the city and its immediate surroundings, which are reported to be largely under Russian control.
Zelensky has pushed for European countries to cut off Russian oil. Asked about the Russian fuel that flows through pipelines in Ukraine, Zelensky said, “Yes, we understand this problem.”
“We understand how much money Russia makes on energy carriers. And yes, first of all, we are calling for an oil embargo because they make 1 billion a day on oil. And we are calling for a gas embargo afterwards,” Zelensky said. “And we are fighting together and looking into these options. But this is transit. We have a transit agreement. That is why it is necessary to have an agreement between Europe and Russia, so they have an embargo on gas supply. And then there will be no transit.”
Zelensky added that Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian gas pipelines to try to suggest to European countries they can’t rely on Ukraine.
“This is what Russia is aiming at. They are trying to act this way in order to show that Ukraine is not able to safely supply gas,” Zelensky said. “They are doing it and they have been doing it for a while now because they want an opportunity to reopen Nord Stream 2. And we are constantly observing it. I’ve already talked about it to our European partners, I don’t want to say what leaders I talked to. I told them, please put embargo on gas, please. We are ready to lose money. Money is not the most important thing for us. People are most important.”
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