Zelenskyy on calls for elections in Ukraine: "This is rhetoric, I am not clinging to presidency"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he takes US calls for elections calmly and is "not clinging to the presidency".
He said this in an interview with the Financial Times, Censor.NET reports.
"This is not support for me"
Asked whether Europeans were again pressuring him to change his tone towards the Trump administration, Zelenskyy said they were not and that he felt supported.
According to him, when it comes to personal matters, such as claims that Ukraine "needs another leader" or should hold elections, he is "fine" with that.
"To me, this is rhetoric. Right now, personally, I think it is a mistake to talk about this because this is not support for me. And what is the point? I do not know. But it does not matter. And Americans will not like this rhetoric, I think. So it does not help the president (Trump — ed.) either. But I am not clinging to this chair. Will I be president for 40 years? Oh no, never," Zelenskyy said.
Division helps Putin
According to Zelenskyy, the key issue is that Putin feels no pressure: when there is no pressure, he attacks. A split between Europe and the United States or between Ukraine and the United States helps him rally the nation, feel successful, and increase the number of people willing to join the war.
"This helps him increase the number of people during his elections. This helps him feel that he is not losing, that he is winning. But he is not winning this technological war," the president stressed.
The president expressed regret that, in this "technological war", the United States had, in his words, helped Putin: whether intentionally or not was unclear, but Washington’s actions had been dangerous for Ukraine.
"Intelligence and Starlink — it is dangerous when these things happen together. Of course, we will find a way out. But it is better to stop Putin than to give him a new lease of life or a renewed will to fight," Zelenskyy added.
Background
- US President Donald Trump said he believed it was time for Ukraine to elect a new leader capable of reaching agreements to end the war.
- Commenting on Trump’s statement, Peskov claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not demonstrating the political will to end the war.
- Zelenskyy, for his part, said he was ready to discuss elections if the United States reached an agreement with Russia on a full ceasefire.
