Zelensky: We will probably achieve a just peace only after Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told RTL during a visit to Berlin: “Ukraine is still far from victory. Russia is advancing relentlessly, several hundred meters a day.” Zelensky said he did not have much hope for an imminent peace.
He claimed: “I do not see any desire in Putin to end the war.”
Zelensky also said: “I know what steps we need to take to end the war. First, a ceasefire, then peace negotiations.” Zelensky said, “Probably only after Putin will we achieve a just peace.”
The Ukrainian president also stressed: “The situation is just as serious as during his first three visits to Berlin. However, now almost everything is different: there is a new person in the chancellor’s office who wants to do better than Olaf Scholz.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz visited Kyiv shortly after being sworn in. “We are now more united than ever,” Zelensky said.
In another part of the conversation, he referred to the issue of Germany sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine and said: “I don’t want to lie, the Taurus issue was discussed privately. We are working on it.” He declined to provide further details, saying that he had reached an agreement with Mertz on this matter.
Zelensky said: “He wants these cruise missiles, he has left no doubt about it. But he does not see it as a game changer or a miracle weapon either.”
He stressed that more is needed to win the war. He added: “We need Taurus, Patriot and political pressure.” Zelensky said that the sanctions package was just as strong and that it was important to him that German money for weapons production in Ukraine was also important, and that another fundamental thing is the alliance between Europe and the United States.
After only a few hours in Berlin, Zelensky ended his trip to Germany yesterday and left for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Embassy in Berlin denied media reports that it had canceled its participation in the Charlemagne Prize ceremony in Aachen due to an imminent Russian attack.