“The pressure on Russia is insufficient. Not only from the United States, but also from Europe”

The Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave an interview to MondeTuesday March 24, at the headquarters of the presidency under high security, in kyiv. The meeting took place while Russia was carrying out a large-scale strike campaign with hundreds of Shahed drones. In this context, the president, dressed in black, his face marked by four years of war and his gaze intense, remained in constant concentration, only rarely showing an expression of relaxation.

The meeting took place as Ukraine finds itself at a particularly delicate moment, a month after the outbreak of a new war in the Middle East likely to distract the attention of its partners and while peace negotiations are at an impasse.

You have been worried, in recent weeks, about the consequences for Ukraine of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran. What are they?

We all need to mobilize, when I say we, it means all of Europe and not just Ukraine, because the war in the Middle East is distracting attention, that is absolutely obvious. And by diverting attention, it pushes us to the second level of priorities, especially since it is a war in which the United States is participating, which, for a long time, was Ukraine’s main donor, then its main supplier of weapons, thanks to financial aid from the Europeans.

So, naturally, everything that is used in the Middle East during this war, as well as everything that is used by Washington’s allies – by the leaders and countries of the region to protect themselves from strikes by the Iranian regime – is all part of a package of weapons that the United States has. They give or sell these weapons, but American production capacities have remained at the same level. So, when we talk about priorities – the protection of our skies, our critical infrastructure and, above all, our civilian population (because air defense primarily serves to protect civilians, even if it is obviously used at the front), we do not know today what will happen in the future.

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