Zelenskyy warns of risks due to US focus on war with Iran
Kyiv • UNN
The President warned of the danger of delaying aid to Ukraine and delaying the supply of air defense systems. The EU loan of 90 billion euros is critical for the country's survival.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has acknowledged that the war with Iran has diverted attention from Russia's aggression against Ukraine, telling CNN that it is a "great risk" to think that efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine cannot resume until the conflict with Iran is over, writes UNN.
Details
In an interview with CNN from the presidential office in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that while technical talks with the United States are still ongoing, he "does not see an opportunity to meet... until the issue, the case of Iran, is closed."
Zelenskyy noted that it is a "challenge" that the same team of American negotiators – led by US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner – is conducting both the negotiations on the war with Iran and in Ukraine.
And he said that while he understands that the United States is currently focused on the war against Iran, it is important not to forget about Ukraine, where fighting continues.
The Ukrainian leader stated that one cannot say that "we will talk (about Ukraine) a little later... Ukraine is not 'a little later'. Ukraine is already experiencing such a great tragedy that we must find a way to deal with it in parallel."
Zelenskyy also told CNN that the war has led to the disruption of supplies of some key weapons for Ukraine, especially missile defense, which, he said, Ukraine is not receiving enough due to limited production capacity in the United States.
In an interview with CNN just hours after the European Union finally approved a key 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said that receiving the money is a matter of "life and survival" for his country.
The loan, promised to Ukraine several months ago, had been long delayed as it was blocked by outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who demanded that Ukraine resume Russian oil supplies to Europe. His convincing defeat in the Hungarian parliamentary elections last week removed one of the obstacles, and on Wednesday, oil transit through the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline resumed, and EU ambassadors gave preliminary approval for the loan.
Zelenskyy told CNN that without funds, it is difficult for Ukraine to produce the amount of weapons it is capable of producing, the publication writes.
He cited the example of interceptor drones, saying that Ukraine currently produces approximately 1000 units per day, although it has the capacity to produce 2000 per day. "But we don't have funding. This is really a matter of our life, survival, for defense, we really need this money," he told CNN.