Biden greenlights US weapons for Ukraine, Zelensky urges more support
US President Joe Biden has approved the use of certain types of American weapons for striking near Russian territory. Kyiv had been waiting for this approval for several weeks. "The delay by US President Joe Biden in granting permission to use Western weapons against targets in Russia has led to its troops mocking Ukraine and being able to 'hunt' its citizens," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with "The Guardian."
On Thursday evening, after months of lobbying, the United States made a small step in this direction by allowing Ukrainian forces defending Kharkiv to use certain types of American weapons for striking near Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a conversation with "The Guardian," assessed that this indecision by the White House had cost many lives and called on the US president to overcome his constant fears of a potential nuclear escalation in the conflict with Russia.
Zelensky clearly emphasized in the conversation that Ukraine must have the ability to use "powerful" long-range weapons that could hit targets deep within Russian territory. He said that the US needs to "believe in us more."
"Absurdly illogical"
As he explained, without this green light from the US, other allies of Ukraine, including the United Kingdom, may also not allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons. "Believe us, we need to respond. They don't understand anything besides force. We are not the first and won't be the last target," he said about Russia.
"I think that having Western weapons and looking at murderers, terrorists, who kill us from the Russian side, is absolutely illogical. I think sometimes they just laugh at this situation. For them, it's like hunting. I was hunting for people. They understand that we can see them but can't reach them," he argued.
Zelensky said that contrary to emerging suggestions, the UK also has not given a "hundred per cent approval" for the use of its long-range weapons and suggested that, like other countries, it is waiting for the Americans.
"You don't know what war is until it comes to your home"
When asked if he feels disappointed that Biden is unlikely to attend the peace summit on Ukraine, to be held in June in Switzerland, he replied, "I think they should believe in us more."
Zelensky acknowledged that Western countries, where there is peace, have "different priorities" and, understandably, do not share the Ukrainian sense of existential urgency. This means that "dialogue" instead of action can be frustrating. "For us, time is our life. If you don't get to the shelter within a minute, you could die. That's why the approach to time is completely different," he explained.
"You don't know what war is until it comes to your home, your street, your friend, someone you studied with, or someone you love. Until you experience it, war is somewhere far away," he added.
"Putin is not crazy"
The Ukrainian president emphasized that negotiations with Russia are unrealistic, and a peace agreement would be a "trap" because Vladimir Putin would violate any agreement, and "he cannot be trusted." He added that Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 because the West responded weakly to the annexation of Crimea and the seizure of parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Zelensky said Moscow would use any pause in fighting to "strengthen its muscles on the battlefield" and sooner or later would strike again. He assessed that the conflict in Ukraine, although more minor in scale, is similar to World War II due to the "ideology of Russian fascism." He noted that Putin's brutal "methodology" is the same as that of Nazi Germany, and Russian soldiers even used "the same routes" that Hitler's army did in the campaign to capture Kyiv and dominate the country.
He stressed that if Russia won in Ukraine, Putin would seek further boundary changes in Europe by attacking other countries.
"This is the real Third World War. I don't think Putin is crazy. He is dangerous. He is much more terrifying. You see, he won't stop," argued the Ukrainian president.
