President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an interview to CNN, in which he spoke about whether he was afraid that "America will abandon Ukraine" just as it abandoned Afghanistan; on the potential membership of Ukraine in NATO and Joe Biden's attitude to this issue, as well as on enhancing Washington's military presence in our country.
Ukraine cannot be compared with Afghanistan
The presenter Fareed Zakaria quoted the words of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev. The latter said last month that neither the White House nor the status of the main US ally outside the NATO bloc had helped the Afghan authorities. The official predicted at that time that Ukraine did not have much time, and after a while the American authorities "would not even remember their Kyiv supporters." When asked if Kyiv is afraid of a repetition of the situation with Kabul, Zelenskyy replied that the comparison of the two countries is incorrect, if only due to the fact how much each of them depends on the United States.
"Ukraine does not depend on the United States the way Afghanistan did. And I really think that in a matter of days, in four, five or seven days it is impossible to take such a big country in terms of its geography as Ukraine, so big in terms of population, and simply occupy it like that."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
According to him, Ukraine "is as independent as possible from any (other—ed. note) economy." Zelenskyy also stressed the fact that our country had been able to withstand in 2014 despite the lack of powerful outside assistance and the complete unpreparedness of the armed forces. He also recalled that the Ukrainians have to fight the country with one of the strongest armies in the world. This, according to the Head of State, is much more difficult than fighting the Taliban.
"We had no military equipment other than our own and our own servicemen. But there was a wave of volunteers... There was no one else. But not only in four days, but even in seven years, Russia did not occupy Ukraine."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
Moreover, Zelenskyy is convinced that the United States should enhance its presence in Ukraine.
«What does it mean "leaving Ukraine"? I believe that on the contrary, the United States should enhance its presence in Ukraine.»
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
NATO membership
The Head of State said that during a meeting with Biden, it had taken 20-30 minutes to discuss Ukraine's potential NATO membership.
"I asked President Biden: "What about NATO? What about Ukraine’s accession to NATO? What about our NATO membership, and when might it happen?" And he said, "I think you have to be there, but it's not just my decision."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine's membership depends not only on the attitude taken by the United States. However, in his opinion, with their support, this can happen faster.
Context. Recently Zelensky predicted that without Ukraine there would be no strong European Union, and NATO would only "lose" from this. He said that if our country is not admitted to these unions, Russia will get stronger.
On September 1, Zelenskyy and Biden held talks in Washington. During the meeting, the American President assured that the United States would continue to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as help in ensuring the country's security.
@material: https://en.thepage.ua/news/zelenskyy-biden-meeting-what-the-presidents-discussed
«The fact that we are among the first countries that President Biden met with (after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan—ed. note) proves that we are a priority country. We are grateful for that, this is an important signal. But behind this signal, we are also expecting actions.»
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
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