Volodímir Zelenski knows exactly what he wants from Spain and from the Spanish presidency of the European Union: to mediate so that Ukraine is heard in Latin America. “It is a fact that the voice of Spain is heard there,” said the Ukrainian president in an interview offered yesterday to La Vanguardia and other Spanish media.
“Political pressure is decisive in this war. If the whole world were against Russia, it would not continue with its aggression”, stated Zelenski, convinced that Russian troops can be expelled not only with weapons, but also with pressure against the Kremlin. “And, in that, the role of Spain in Latin America is important. We will possibly talk about that tomorrow, ”he said, referring to the visit that Spanish President Pedro Sánchez is making to Kyiv today.
“I think it is important that Ukraine is heard abroad, and I could go there to speak,” he reiterated when talking about the possibility of attending the EU-Latin America summit to be held in Brussels on July 17-18.
Zelenski and Brazilian President Lula da Silva spoke virtually months ago, but found no common ground. He wants to try again and believes that the solution is not just to talk to Latin American leaders, many of whom claim to maintain a position of neutrality: he wants to meet with them personally.
He knows that fighting Russian propaganda is a daunting task. He also knows that a large part of Latin American society supports the Ukrainians against the invasion, and for this reason he believes that it would be best to go directly to the population on that side of the world. But there is a problem: no country has invited him.
“It is important that Latin America, China and India, among others, join the peace formula for the pressure to work,” insisted Zelenski, who thanked Spain for its support from the beginning of the large-scale invasion. “Ukraine trusts Spain”, he declared, and recalled that both countries defend the same values, simple things like the house, children, the family.
“We are normal people who want to live a normal life,” he said in the interview, which lasted an hour. “Without Ukraine, I don’t think NATO is NATO”, the Ukrainian president also stated, emphasizing that it is impossible to think today about the possibility that the Atlantic Alliance does not count on Ukraine.
“We are powerful, as we have shown, we have practice and an experienced army,” he declared, and recalled the creativity of the Ukrainians in seeking alternatives in their defense. “We have so many people willing to produce new technologies,” she said. He gave the example of maritime drones, which are much cheaper than ships and help defend the coast.
He spoke of the threats against his life. At first he said that his life was in no more danger than the soldiers at the front. But then she reflected and assured: “Russia only wants to kill me; Putin, everyone.”
The president came to talk about a possible world war if Russia wins. “If the Ukraine does not resist and Russia advances towards Poland or the Baltic countries, that would mean the third world war,” he warned. Placing Kyiv under the cloak of NATO is the best way, he understands, to make Putin see that “there is no fear of any aggressor.”
“We would like to receive the invitation (to join NATO) in Vilnius,” acknowledges the Ukrainian president, referring to the Lithuanian capital, where the Alliance will hold its next summit on July 11 and 12. “NATO is the best guarantee of security” in the face of the open conflict with the Russian invasion. “We do not admit any other alternative,” Zelenski insisted on integrating into the organization.
He spoke of the counteroffensive and the need to continue with the support of the allied countries. “I know that some partners may be in a hurry for this offensive to advance faster, but for us the important thing is the men,” said Zelenski, who prefers that the counteroffensive be extended over time, even four or five months, to protect his people, whom he described as “treasure”.
“The most important thing is to save lives, if a piece of land is mined, you cannot send people to die. We cannot do it because our partners are in a hurry, ”she declared. He was emphatic in stating that the most important thing is to be cautious, and the motivation of his men, which is “high”.
“Human life is the most valuable thing,” he insisted minutes before describing how the Russian paramilitary forces of the Wagner Group operated before being withdrawn. He remembered those waves of men that Wagner sent to the front as cannon fodder: if they retreated and turned back, their officers would kill them.
Commenting on this, Zelenski paused to tell that, during the Battle of Bakhmut, led from the Russian positions by these paramilitary forces, around 21,000 Russians were killed and another 80,000 wounded. Nearly 100,000 men were put out of action.
“These are fundamental casualties,” said the Ukrainian president, thus responding to some criticism from abroad about the importance of fighting hard for Bakhmut. “Killing mercenaries in eastern Ukraine was also part of the counteroffensive. It served to demoralize the enemy,” he stated.
He was also asked about the dead and wounded on the Ukrainian side, which, as in Russia, are not made public. “Their families know it,” he said. He said that he has access to the figures, and that there is clearly a difference between deaths and injuries on both sides: “The figures are clear, they have many more.”
Regarding civilian deaths and injuries, he stated that it is not possible to speak of specific numbers because there is still more than a third of the Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia and it is not known how many people are in mass graves, how many in camps, how many are kidnapped. In the liberated territories where life has returned to almost normal levels, such as Bucha, Irpin, Borodianka, even today they continue to find pits and tortured people in the basements.
One of the immediate challenges is knowing what will happen to Wagner’s forces that will settle in neighboring Belarus. Zelenski calculates several scenarios. “They can attack Ukraine from there, they can create sabotage groups against the Atlantic Alliance, especially Poland,” he says, specifying that it is still early to tell.
What he did make clear is that this “hybrid” war, as he defined it, is being fought on different fronts: the information field, politics, and the battlefield.
“I don’t think they are a threat, but we are going to follow what happens there carefully,” said Zelenski, who drew attention to Russia’s need to find culprits to justify not having victories on the battlefield.
“They have to motivate society,” he added, referring to what happened with Prigozhin, his fight against the Russian Defense Minister, Shoigu, and his challenge to Putin. “We have to take advantage of this to drive them out,” he said.
But the threats at a time when Russia is facing both this internal crisis and the Ukrainian counter-offensive are not few. The main one, perhaps, is the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The head of Ukrainian intelligence has assured that the plant is mined and that there could be a nuclear leak. Zelensky warned yesterday of the threat that Russia wants to use an eventual leak in order to freeze the war.
“It is what he is looking for, he needs time to strengthen his army,” he said. And he recalled that a year ago they made public the information about a possible attack on the Kajovka dam. They fear that the same could now happen with the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
“We spoke with Rafael Grossi (secretary of the Atomic Energy Organization), but he cannot do anything alone. He needs the support of the world. If they all come together, they can influence Russia to hand over control of the plant,” the president said.
In the end, Zelensky was in a hurry, as always. This is the life of a president at war who remembers that there are no weekends.
