Zelensky told DailyExpertNews’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour in a one-on-one interview at the Munich Security Conference that he disagreed with the view that sanctions should only be mentioned after a possible Russian invasion has occurred.
“The issue of just making it public… just the list of sanctions, for them, for us, to know what will happen when they start the war — even that question doesn’t have the support,” he told DailyExpertNews .
“We don’t need your sanctions after the bombing takes place and after our country gets shelled or after we don’t have borders or after we don’t have an economy…why would we need those sanctions?”
“We had a discussion with one of the leaders of one of the leading countries some time ago and we were talking about sanctions policy … we had a different view of how sanctions should be applied when Russian aggression will take place,” Zelensky said. . “So if you ask, what can be done, well, many different things can be done. We can even provide you with a list. The most important thing is willingness.
“If you can’t even reveal what will happen to who when the war starts…I doubt it will be activated after it happens,” he added.
Russia has strengthened its military hold around Ukraine since last year, gathering tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery on its doorstep. The aggression has prompted warnings from US officials that a Russian invasion is imminent.
When asked about a possible false flag pretext for war with Russia, Zelensky told Amanpour that “any provocation is very dangerous”.
“I think the most complicated question is that in Crimea, in the temporarily occupied area of the Donbas along Ukraine and Russia, there are 30 to 35,000 in the temporarily occupied areas … so provocations are very dangerous indeed, if you do this number of troops. One shell, one cannon fire can lead to war,” Zelensky warned.
“This is what our partners believe, I mean the partners around us who have joined us. We know the history of the Soviet Union and they understand the kind of risks we face. Poland, the Baltic States, Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia, Moldova — they know where that can lead, so we have to be very careful,” he continued.
He went on to say that the number of victims between Ukraine and Russia was higher in 2014, but admitted that the current tensions are “terrible” and “a tragedy for our nation, for our people”.
“This is also the tragedy for the Russians who used to have good relations with Ukraine,” he added.
The Ukrainian president told DailyExpertNews that NATO partners had to clarify a timeline on which the country could join the military alliance.
“Ukraine needs security guarantees,” Zelensky said. “We are smart people, we are not narrow-minded. We understand that there are many different risks because of NATO, there is no consensus about other allies, everyone says there is some distance we have to go between Ukraine and NATO that we just want to say how much time it takes to cover this distance?”
In previous remarks at the conference, Zelensky questioned why Ukraine was not allowed to join NATO. “We’ve been told the doors are open…but the foreigners are still not allowed in,” he said.
Moscow sees NATO’s growing support for Ukraine – in terms of weapons, training and personnel – as a threat to its own security. Putin has also called for specific legal agreements that would preclude any further NATO expansion eastwards towards Russia’s borders, saying the West has failed to honor its previous verbal commitments.
Amanpour also asked Zelensky about the aggressive use of US intelligence agencies to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. He said he was “grateful for the work both of our intelligence agencies have done. But the intelligence I trust is my intelligence agency.
“I trust the Ukrainian intelligence service who… understands what is happening at our borders, who has different intelligence sources and understands different risks based on intercepted data… this information must be used.”
He continued: “We don’t really live in delusions. We understand what could happen tomorrow…putting ourselves in coffins and waiting for foreign soldiers to come in is not something we want to do.”
Zelensky then called on international partners to support Ukraine by investing in the country. “Strengthen our weapons… our economy. Invest in our country. Bring in your business.
“We are not panicking, we want to live our lives,” he added.
Zelensky also explained that his presence at the conference on Saturday was to ensure there was a Ukrainian voice in the room. “I’m the president, it’s important that all our partners and friends don’t agree on anything behind our backs,” he said. “We are not panicking, we are very consistent that we do not respond to provocations.”
Some US officials were concerned that Zelensky’s absence from Ukraine could open the door for Russia to make false claims that he has fled.
Hours before the meeting with Amanpour, Zelensky met with Harris and told her he was grateful for US support, particularly in strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities.
“This is our country and all we want is to have peace, to bring peace back to our country,” Zelensky said.
During the bilateral meeting that lasted about 45 minutes, Harris told the Ukrainian leader that the US “takes seriously the importance of the integrity and territorial integrity of Ukraine and your sovereignty, and the United States stands behind Ukraine in this regard”.
“We take any threat to your country seriously and we have gathered our allies and our partners to speak with one voice,” the vice president said.
Harris said she wanted to hear directly from Zelensky about his concerns and the evolving situation on the ground and that she would share with him the information the US has about the current crisis.
“As you know, this is a defining moment in our world history,” Harris told Zelensky.
Kate Sullivan, Allie Malloy, Jasmine Wright and Eliza Mackintosh of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.
