Zelenskyy: US aid will give Ukraine chance to win

Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Stock photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that the approval of US aid for Ukraine will give Kyiv a chance to win the war.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview for NBC News on 21 April, full version of which has been published by the press service of the President

The news was updated with the quotes from the Ukrainian version of the interview 

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Quote: “I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces, I pray, and we will have a chance at victory if Ukraine really gets the weapons system which we need so much, which thousands of soldiers need so much.”. This aid will really strengthen Ukraine and the Armed Forces, but on condition that Ukraine receives the deficit armament needed to fight against the enemy. And so that this aid is not wasted on trifles but is indeed supplied in the form of the deficit weapons we lack today – artillery, strategic long-range weapons, everything included in the bill ([by the way,] I am grateful to the speaker) – ATACMS… and air defence is also a priority.”

Details: Asked to give an approximate “time reference” of the war in Ukraine, Zelenskyy stated: “It depends on when we actually get weapons on the ground…Now we have the chance to stabilise the situation and to seize the initiative, and that’s why we need to actually have the weapons systems… When we have weapons at our disposal, we’ll have the initiative, and then we’ll be able to push forward.”

“From the moment we receive the weapons we requested and counted upon, we will be able to forecast our actions more precisely,” he added. 

Zelenskyy also reacted to recent reports that former US president Donald Trump, if elected, would pressure Ukraine to give away part of its territory to Russia in exchange for ending the war: “I’m the President of a country which is at war and I do not believe in rumours. When Trump comes to Ukraine and shares his formula for ending the war with me, then I will discuss it. So far I only know one thing – Putin cannot be trusted. What Putin says will never come true.”

Quote: “The strategy of ending the war should be based not on what Putin says or some other people from his entourage say, but on something very specific, something very tangible in Ukraine that is independent and democratic.”

Background: 

• On 20 April, the US House of Representatives approved a bill to provide about US$61 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
• US President Joe Biden has urged the Senate to approve the aid for Ukraine and “quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law, and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs”.
• US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that US senators will come out of recess to vote on aid to Ukraine on Tuesday 23 April.
• The Washington Post reported that it will take the Pentagon less than a week to deliver some of the weapons to Ukrainian forces after all the procedures for adopting the relevant legislation are completed.

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