Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talked about what it will take to maintain Ukrainian independence, his soldiers’ morale, and the country’s next presidential election in an exclusive video interview with German media house Axel Springer.
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00:00If I can give you my personal impression, and I have been to Ukraine in the past few years more
00:06than to Germany or anywhere else. I spent many months here with our team, met many people and
00:12reported a lot. But my feeling is that there's more and more pessimistic people about the goal
00:22of taking back the whole territory. I understand. My feeling is many Ukrainians don't believe anymore
00:29what you are saying, that you will take back whole Ukraine. This is the goal. This is the justice
00:37to take all our territory. I'm not speaking that all the territory with a weapon, like I said to
00:43you. I think it's a long way. But I don't want to be very optimistic, but I have to be very realistic.
00:52If we have to save independent Ukraine, democratic Ukraine, like a part of Europe, of future EU,
01:06it doesn't matter, like nation. If we want to save it, we need to get back our independence.
01:15It's not only territory. It's also the circumstances when people can come back. It means that all the
01:25investors and world business has to believe in Ukraine to the future. That means without any
01:34frozen conflicts. But if this, Mr. President, if this doesn't work, and if another counteroffensive
01:40fails, and you can't take back the land, when is the time for you to sit down with Vladimir Putin
01:46to negotiate? But we prepared very concrete plan for diplomatic negotiating with the first inaugural
01:58one will be in Switzerland. But without Russia? Of course, without Russia, because we don't need
02:05them to block anything. But how can you go? I will tell you, I will tell you, we will prepare a plan.
02:13And I think that some of the points will be ready with details what to do in the first, even in the
02:21first summit, with the most volume of the country, the most number of the countries of the world.
02:27And after that, we will prepare all the plan. And of course, some negotiators, some representatives
02:34of continents will represent this plan, will propose this plan to Russian representatives.
02:41But only after we will have our joint common opinion, common opinion of the countries who really want
02:52peace. The past months, you always said you would never sit down with Vladimir Putin. Since the war
02:58started, you said there's no way I'm sitting on one table because he's a killer and he killed a lot
03:04of our people. If it's about negotiation on the platform of peace summit, I think we will find
03:14infrastructure or we will find some possibilities for negotiate with some representatives,
03:21somewhere or another. There is not only problems with weapons at the front, there's also a problem
03:29with mobilization. When I talked to soldiers at the front and we visited many positions in Avdiivka
03:34and other areas in Bahmut, they told us we've been here for two years or even longer.
03:40How is it possible that people in Kiev or Lviv enjoying their life and are not here at the front?
03:48Is it possible to force people to go to the front line?
03:53No, it's not about the force, it's not right word. I mean that we have mobilization from the first
04:01days of the war and of course parliament is prolonging this mobilization every three months.
04:09There are some changes to the law which are now in parliament and I think that the parliament will
04:17vote these changes. Of course there are soldiers who are from the first days. I'm very thankful to
04:25them and all of us and they're heroes from the first day they're on the front line and of course
04:32some of them are tired. But we have also to look at the situation with Russia which decided to
04:38mobilize 300,000 more people. How many will you mobilize, how many do you need to defend and at
04:44the same time you just said you would organize a new counter. I will not share openly what will be
04:50the number but the number will be enough to defend our country. Very last question, Mr. President,
04:58you've been in power now for almost five years. I remember when you were elected in 2019. In May
05:05normally there would have been elections and now during wartime this year there will be
05:11probably no election. How will you call yourself after May? Still president or
05:18how would you call yourself then? When will it be election? The most important is that I am still
05:24Ukrainian and I think that this is the most important thing. And about the presidency,
05:32when we can organize elections, when we can change the law because today, I think you understand our
05:49law, today through our law we can't do it during the war or war period. So I have to stop war period,
05:59it means to stop this law.
06:00Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much.
06:29Thank you.