A speech in the midst of a new Russian attack in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky judged Friday, in an exclusive interview with AFP, that the new assault on the Kharkiv region could be the first wave of a broader offensive affecting the East and the North. Nearly 10,000 people have already been forced to leave their homes in the territory located in the northeast of the country.
Despite the “risk” of Russian breakthroughs in the face of a Ukrainian army weakened by losses and lack of weapons, Ukraine will continue to fight, he assured, in his first interview with a foreign media since the start of this offensive.
“A first wave” of the Russian operation
If Russian troops made advances in the Kharkiv region after crossing the border by surprise at dawn on May 10, the situation in this sector is today better for Ukraine, assured the head of the State.
“The Russians have launched their operation, it may consist of several waves. And that ; This is their first wave. But the situation is under control after this first wave,” says Zelensky.
“They are 5-10 kilometers maximum from the border, we stopped them (…) I would not say that it is a great success (Russian), but we must be sober and admit that it is they, not us, who are encroaching into our territory. This is their advantage,” he adds.
“If they sense weakness in this direction, they will push,” the president warned, but if Ukrainian troops manage to stop Russian troops, she will give up. “They are not going to die by the millions, in my opinion, to have Kharkiv,” he believes.
Russian forces took 278 square km between May 9 and 15, their largest gains since the end of 2022, according to an AFP calculation based on data from the ISW (Institute for the Study of War). Moscow had already failed to take it in 2022 and Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he had no intention of attacking it “for the moment”. According to him, the Russian assault aims to create a buffer zone supposed to prevent Ukrainian strikes on Russian border territory.
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A little further west, Russian forces have advanced on their second axis of assault in the region and are targeting the village of Loukiantsi, to open the way towards Lyptsi, another locality on the road to Kharkiv. For its part, the Russian army claimed Friday the capture, in one week, of 12 localities in the region and affirmed that its forces continued to advance.
According to Zelensky, the situation in Kharkiv has not yet “stabilized.” “Nevertheless, the situation is under control, and better than the first day” of the offensive thanks to the reinforcements deployed, he said. Russia wants to attack the country’s second city, only a few dozen kilometers from the front, the president said. However, he assured that the battle for the city, if there was one, would be tough for the Russian army.
“They want it, they want to attack, but they understand that it is very difficult,” he said, “they understand that we have forces and that they will fight for a long time.”
Zelensky also estimated that Russia did not have the forces to launch a ground offensive against kyiv, the capital.
Pressure on the West for a “just peace”
Regarding talks, before the conference on Ukraine scheduled for mid-June in Switzerland, President Zelensky called on the West not only to want to end the war with Russia, but to seek a “just peace” for his country.
“We want the war to end with a peace just for us,” he said, “and the West just wants the war to end, as quickly as possible.”
In addition, the deployment of new Western arms supplies could take months, during which there is a risk of Russian “breakthroughs” in certain sectors, Zelensky said.
But “no one is going to give up (the fight in Ukraine). I am sure that, whatever the difficulties encountered and the breakthroughs achieved, there will still be no comprehensive breakthrough,” maintained the head of state. “Their plans are clear to us, they are clear to the military command. So I think we’re going to manage one way or another,” he said.
He calls for 120 to 130 F16 planes
It is now a matter of Ukraine and its Western allies showing resilience, the president insisted, calling for two Patriot anti-aircraft systems to defend the region’s skies and the Ukrainian soldiers who protect it.
In total, Ukraine has only a quarter of the air defense systems it needs and requires a total of 120 to 130 F16 fighter jets to end Russia’s dominance in the air, the chief said of State.
After the significant delays in deliveries of American and European military aid, Zelensky estimated that the West was “afraid” of both a Russian defeat and a Ukrainian defeat. “We find ourselves in an absurd situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And (at the same time) he doesn’t want Ukraine to lose it,” he said.
He also castigated his allies who forbid him from using Western weapons to strike Russian territory, for fear that this would push the Kremlin into an escalation.
“They can hit us from their territory, this is the biggest advantage Russia has, and we can’t do anything to their systems (of armaments) located on Russian territory with Western weapons. We have no right to do so,” he denounced.
Recruitment of soldiers struggling
President Zelensky further acknowledged that his army was short of men and that this was affecting troop morale, as a new mobilization law came into force on Saturday to replenish the ranks of Ukrainian forces. “We have to fill the reserves (…) There are a significant number of brigades which are empty. We have to do it so that guys (who are on the front) can have normal rotations. That’s how morale will improve,” he said.
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The lowering of the age of mobilization from 27 to 25, which came into force at the beginning of April, is very unpopular. Ukrainian diplomacy recently temporarily suspended “the receipt of new files for consular services” for men who went abroad while they are of fighting age, namely from 18 to 60 years old.
On Friday, the president also signed a law that allows prisoners to be recruited in exchange for parole.
No Olympic truce
The head of state also indicated that he had rejected the idea of a “truce” for the duration of the Paris Olympic Games in the summer that French President Emmanuel Macron wanted.
” I said : Emmanuel, we don’t believe it. Let’s imagine for a second that there is a ceasefire. First, we don’t trust Putin. Second, he is not going to withdraw his troops. Thirdly, (…) tell me Emmanueldid I say, who guarantees that Russia will not take advantage of this to bring its troops to our territory? “, Zelensky said, rejecting a “truce that would play into the hands of the enemy.”
A call to China
The Ukrainian president wanted to see China and southern countries “involved” in the conference on peace in Ukraine, which Switzerland is organizing on June 15 and 16.
Chinese leaders “live somewhat with the feeling that if Russia loses the war, it is not a loss for Russia, it is a victory for the United States. For them, it is therefore neither a victory for Ukraine nor a loss for Russia (…) It is a victory for the West. And they want to find a balance between the two. This is why I would like to see China involved in the peace summit.”
“Global players” like China “have influence over Russia. And the more countries of this type we have on our side, on the side of ending the war, I would say, the more Russia will have to reckon with this,” noted the Ukrainian president.
