In an interview with CBS News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he cannot give up any part of Ukraine for peace.
He remarked, “No. It is our territory.”
The interview was held before his US visit, where he will speak at the UN, and meet US President Joe Biden and press him for more aid from Washington.
Overview
“We’re defending the values of the whole world [...] We are fighting for real with a nuclear state that threatens to destroy the world,” Zelensky remarked.
Speaking about the US help of $70 billion to Ukraine, Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the US and said, “I just think they are not supporting Ukraine alone.”
The Ukrainian president said that it is up to the whole world to decide whether they want to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin or trigger a World War.
Further, he spoke on the acquisition of newer systems to tackle Russia.
Amid demands for missiles with a longer range and a $24 billion package being debated by Congress, Zelensky said, “If Ukraine had enough of these modern systems, we would have already restored the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley asks Ukrainian President Zelenskyy: “Can you give up any part of Ukraine for peace?” https://t.co/KVMb7F0epu pic.twitter.com/vIn6y6fwHH
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 18, 2023
Must Not Give Putin a Break
As winter approaches, both Russia and Ukraine will have to freeze the front at a point.
The Ukrainian president said, “We need to liberate our territory as much as possible and move forward…We can’t lose time.” “We mustn’t give Putin a break,” he mentioned.
Zelensky dodged the question of Ukrainian drones striking inside Russian territory and said that Ukraine does not shoot at the territory of the Russian Federation.
However, he said, “Russia needs to know that wherever it is, whichever place they use for launching missiles to strike Ukraine, Ukraine has every moral right to send a response to those places.”
Russia Trying to Break Ukrainians
Responding to a question about what the Russian president is trying to do by attacking civilian targets, Zelensky said Putin is doing so “to break the Ukrainians.”
He said that a person who has made his way with such bloody actions cannot be trusted.
“There is no trust in such a person because he has not been a human being for a long time,” he added.
Zelensky remarked that Putin is waiting for the US to become less stable, which he thinks would happen during the elections.
The Ukrainian president said that Putin will be looking for instability in Europe and the US, and use the threat of nuclear weapons to fuel that instability.