Russian bloodshed in Ukraine could escalate into World War III, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Sunday.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “igniting a fire” around the world that risks spreading out of control – and said the October 7 mass attack launched in Israel by Hamas terrorists was Moscow’s “big wish”.
And he also accused the Kremlin of fomenting problems in the Balkans.
He said: “We think they are preparing in the Balkans, they are making new moves,” Zelensky said. “And we think they’re trying to train or train some people.”
“The idea is to start a conflict and they don’t manage it, don’t try to stop it.”
‘They won’t stop’
Speaking from his office in Kyiv, Zelensky warned: “Ukraine today is at the center of the global risk of a Third World War.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “igniting a fire” around the world that risks spreading out of control and accused the Kremlin of fomenting problems in the Balkans. Volodymyr Zelenskyy/Instagram
“And I really think that Russia will push until the United States and China together will tell them very, very seriously to get out of [our] region.”
He said the war in Israel had diverted the world from Ukraine, which “didn’t help” his cause.
And he emphasized Moscow’s ties to Hamas supporters in Iran, to which Iran has boosted Russia’s war effort by supplying deadly kamikaze drones.
Up to 600,000 people have been killed or injured in Ukraine – mostly Russian soldiers – since Putin launched his full-scale invasion on February 24 last year.
Zelensky admitted that Ukraine’s struggle this year did not go as expected.
NewsCorp chairman and Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch met with Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine. Instagram/Volodymyr Zelenskyy Murdoch and Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall, injured in Ukraine, speak with the president of Ukraine. Instagram/Volodymyr Zelenskyy
His troops had advanced only 10 miles since they launched their counterattack in June.
The lack of progress has eroded support from some of Ukraine’s allies and fueled doubts about whether Zelensky will achieve his stated ambition of expelling Russian troops from all Ukrainian soil.
He has repeatedly said he wants to reclaim Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, and reclaim the borders of Ukraine’s 1991 independence.
Congress blocked the White House’s plan to unlock $60 billion in aid to Ukraine over fears it would fund an “endless stalemate.”
And Slovakia’s new government blocked a $43 million military aid package claiming its citizens had “bigger problems.”
But Zelensky vowed to fight Russia and insisted Ukraine would expel Russian troops if it continued to get the right help.
Britain has pledged more than £7 billion and has pledged to continue helping Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia.
The EU has signed a €50 billion aid deal that runs until 2027.
Zelensky thanked allies for their support but insisted it was “not enough.”
Sun reporter Jerome Starkey also joined the discussion with Murdoch and Hall.Instagram/Volodymyr Zelenskyy It was Hall’s first trip back to the war-torn country since he survived a Russian attack while covering the invasion last year.X/Nana Sajaia
He said Ukraine desperately needed more air defense weapons to protect civilians in cities and allow soldiers to advance on the front lines.
In an impassioned plea, he said Kyiv would find ways to buy, rent or jointly produce weapons if allies were no longer willing to provide them.
Zelensky: “If you don’t want or can’t. Good. Co-production. Just give us the license. We will find money. We just need air defense on the front line.”
Russia has launched around 4,000 missiles since the start of the full-scale war and is quickly ramping up production to try and replenish its stockpile.
Zelensky said millions of Ukrainian refugees would return if he could protect the country’s biggest city if they were safe from Russian attacks.
He said: “They will work and pay taxes. It will fill the gap in our budget. We will not need much financial help.”
But he warned that without Western help Ukraine cannot win.
He said: “If the Western countries will not give us this support, this is their decision,” he said. “Our military and finances [resources] it will not be enough to stay and defend Ukraine.”
He reminded NATO allies that Ukraine paid with their lives, saying, He said “We lost our people, not Europe, America. I don’t want you, of course, to lose your soldiers.
Zelensky warned that without Western help Ukraine cannot win.REUTERS “Ukraine today is at the center of the global risk of the Third World War,” Zelensky said. Russian Ministry of Defense/AFP via Getty Images
He warned that if Russia defeats Ukraine then NATO countries will be next, saying, “If they kill us, if they destroy us, they will occupy NATO countries very quickly, and after that you will mobilize your soldiers.
“If you won’t mobilize your troops to fight for NATO against Russia, NATO won’t do it.”
Security plan
Ukraine’s defenses shocked the world when they stopped a large Russian force in the first weeks of Putin’s invasion and launched a Kremlin offensive around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.
But the front lines have not changed much in a year, and there is a growing realization that the war in Ukraine will not end quickly.
Former President Donald Trump, who hopes to run for the White House next year, claims he can end the war in a day if re-elected in the 2024 election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion on February 24 last year.POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Zelensky said he was ready to meet Trump. He said:
“If he has a real plan, please show us,” he said.
But he added that there are “enough words” in this war.
Zelensky added that any plan in which Ukraine hands Moscow the eastern Donbas region and occupies the Crimean peninsula is not a peace plan – it is surrender.
“Our country will not be ready for such a peace plan,” he said. “That is not a peace plan. That is an end to the war from the Russian side.”
He also warned such a plan would fail because Russia would take the territory, build up strength and attack again, as they did after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the most recent invasion last year.
Jerome Starkey is the UK Sun’s defense editor.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
