Fox News journalist Bret Baier, who travelled to Ukraine specifically to interview President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asked him what Ukraine's plans are for 2024 – especially if it no longer receives US funding.
Zelensky gave the interview to an American TV channel popular among Republicans a few kilometres from the frontline, in the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, which had been liberated from Russian occupation.
"I have often heard such questions in recent months. Will we survive? Of course we will. But not all of us will. If the world is ready for it, you will see it. But this is a tragedy. It will be a tragedy for all of us, not just for Ukraine, not just for Ukrainians, but for the whole of Europe," Zelenskyy said.
The President did not explain what the "plan B" would be if the US does not resume supplies this year, but noted that Russia still has air superiority and also has superior numbers.
"It's hard to find something similar," he said, referring to other sources of aid. "Of course, we will find it, we will not stand still. We will have to survive until we find some parallel ways. But in any case, you know, this help is critical. So without it, I'm sorry, we will have more and more heroic guys in hospitals. Because if you don't have a real defensive shield and the same powerful artillery with ammunition, of course, you will lose people."
About Avdiivka
"We need to understand what control means in this case. They (Russians – ed.) have destroyed everything. Their strategy is to level everything to the ground and then move on," Zelenskyy said of the situation in Avdiivka.
"During these two years, they [the Russian military] occupied the Kharkiv region, and now we control this region. We have unblocked the Black Sea, we now have grain corridors, and we have destroyed many ships of the Russian navy. We did this within two years. Yes, last year was mostly difficult for us, but what we did, I think, was good work."
About Zaluzhnyi
Zelenskyy said he was grateful to Zaluzhnyi for his work, but that these changes were necessary.
"We need to be faster," Zelenskyy said, "which means we need to get rid of the bureaucracy we have. Otherwise, we will have no chance. We need to be smarter technologically. And, of course, faster."
About the elections
If Ukraine hadn't been at war, it would be on the verge of presidential elections. But according to the law, elections cannot be held in wartime. Bayer told Zelenskyy that the West is concerned about this.
Bret Baier: "Critics will say that you are trying to stay in power and are not in a hurry to come to the negotiating table to end this war."
"I really didn't want to talk about politics, because what is happening in the war is much more important," Zelenskyy said.
"If the elections were held now, I would win," Zelensky added, referring to polls that show his approval ratings at over 70%.
On weapons
"We need long-range weapons," Zelenskyy said, "We talked about it with congressmen, I talked about it with President Biden. Long-range ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometres would help us a lot. Because this is an unfair war: our artillery has a range of about 20 kilometres, and Russia's has a range of 40 kilometres. So if our partners have such systems, why not provide them to Ukraine?"
"It's not very fair to ask Ukrainians when the war will end," Zelenskyy added. "We are doing everything we can to make it end. But let's be honest: the world is not very ready for Putin's defeat. And the world is afraid of changes in Russia. So, when the world realises that Putin has crossed all the red lines, that he is not a very adequate person who threatens the whole world, whose plan is to destroy NATO, then when that happens, the war will end."
Background. In an interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy said that he had no intention of creating a frozen conflict or signing new Minsk agreements with Russia.