the essential
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky takes stock of the Russian advance and the air assets, insufficient in his eyes, coming from the West. He counts on China’s role in the conflict. He spoke to Agence France-Presse.
Advance of the Russian army
Volodymyr Zelensky says he expects a broader Russian offensive in the North and East, regions where Moscow is continuing its large-scale assault launched on May 10. For him, Russia wants to attack the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. “They have launched their operation, it can be made up of several waves. And this is their first wave,” he assures while Russia has just made its biggest territorial gains since the end of 2022. He nevertheless affirms , despite Russian advances in recent days, that the situation is better for its forces than a week ago. For the Ukrainian president, Russia does not have the means to launch a new major assault against kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
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The state of the Ukrainian army
Volodymyr Zelensky recognizes a lack of personnel which affects the morale of his troops. “There are a significant number of brigades which are empty.” Faced with its shortcomings, kyiv passed controversial legislation to accelerate military mobilization by lowering the age from 27 to 25, which came into force on Saturday. The Ukrainian president also signed a law that allows prisoners to be recruited in exchange for parole.
Western military aid
Volodymyr Zelensky deplores having only a quarter of the air defense systems his country needs. He also says he needs 120 to 130 F-16 fighter jets to be able to claim to end Russia’s dominance in the air and the destruction of cities and infrastructure. A few F-16 fighter jets are expected to arrive in Ukraine this summer once Ukrainian pilots have been trained. Furthermore, Volodymyr Zelensky criticizes the West for prohibiting Ukraine from using weapons supplied by Europe and the United States to strike Russian territory. He complained about it again this week to the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the West is “afraid” of both a Russian defeat and a Ukrainian defeat, a situation he describes as “absurd”.
Photo AFP
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China’s role
Volodymyr Zelensky wants to see China “involved” in the conference on peace in Ukraine, which Switzerland is to organize in June, without the presence of Russia. “Global players” like China “have influence on 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 that.” Chinese leaders “live a little 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,” he said. He continued: “China has an influence on Russia because there is an economy between these countries”, and on the other “China is very interested in the European Union market, the European market is a priority for them. But they don’t want to lose Russia.”
No truce for the Paris Olympics
Volodymyr Zelensky rejects the idea of a “truce” in the war with Russia for the duration of the Paris Olympic Games that Emmanuel Macron wants. “I said: Emmanuel, we don’t believe in it. Let’s imagine for a second that there is a ceasefire. First of all, we don’t trust Putin. Secondly, he is not going to withdraw his troops. […] tell me Emmanuel, I said, who guarantees that Russia will not take advantage of this to bring its troops to our territory”, says Volodymyr Zelensky. “We are not against a truce, we are not against the end of the war. But we want a just end to this war. And we are against a truce which would play into the hands of the enemy,” he added.
