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President Zelenskyy: It's Time To Tell You The Truth About The War! They Found 500 Bodies! — Transcript

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0:00President Zelensky, how are you doing?
0:05>> Well, it's hard.
0:08Uh, I'll be honest. I
0:12uh, don't sleep. It's a huge, terrifying
0:15pain that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
0:18>> I can see the tears in your eyes.
0:19>> Yeah.
0:23The war started February 24th of '22. I
0:27didn't think there would be a full-scale
0:29invasion. I was with was with my family,
0:30told my wife that to the kids, "The war
0:33has started. I love you. I'll call you."
0:36And ran out.
0:37>> Satellite imagery captured a massive
0:3964-km convoy leading to Kyiv.
0:44>> And just imagine, 200,000 people are
0:46coming at you. It's simply impossible to
0:48defend.
0:48>> Missiles were raining down on your head.
0:50>> Those were absolutely horrifying
0:52moments. And I was in the bunker built
0:55right inside my office. Biden called me,
0:57"We are ready to help you evacuate."
1:00>> What did you say to Biden?
1:01>> I need ammunition.
1:03Not a ride. They expected people to run
1:06and me, I couldn't abandon the people.
1:09And then people showed up as volunteers,
1:11and our army grew from 200,000 to an
1:14army of 800,000. Day after day, we
1:18pushed back harder.
1:19>> What what was your hardest day through
1:21the last 4 years?
1:22>> We liberated Bucha. I went there. Dead
1:24bodies lying everywhere. Kids, adults,
1:27elderly people, chopped meat.
1:30Butchered them. Hands tied, tortured.
1:33And then buried in in in pits. When you
1:36see a mass today finding a grave in the
1:40US or in Britain, God forbid, with 500
1:44tortured people, how do you forgive? And
1:46that's why when President Trump says we
1:48need to find a compromise, well, you
1:50can't just forgive everything like that.
1:53>> Is there a realistic path to the end of
1:55this war.
2:07President Zelenskyy,
2:10sometimes
2:12the question I'm about to ask you, we
2:14answer it flippantly when people ask,
2:15but I really want you to answer it in
2:17the fullest honest context you possibly
2:19can.
2:21How are you doing?
2:24>> Well, it's hard.
2:26Uh
2:28hard because
2:30it's like I'm surviving along with my
2:32country and with the people and it's
2:35like really uh question like will
2:37tomorrow come or not?
2:39And the answer to that is yes, it will.
2:42You can't answer it any other way
2:43because I am that means my family, my
2:46relatives,
2:48uh my country, I'm an inseparable part
2:50of it.
2:51And so, how do I feel? Hard, but with
2:55understanding the difficult reality with
2:57optimism because I still believe good
3:00wins.
3:01I believe in that.
3:03Truly.
3:04>> Is it a bit of a roller coaster on a
3:06human level for you?
3:08Are there there days where
3:12there's more hope and days where there's
3:13less hope?
3:16>> You can't live without hope. I
3:17understand sometimes inside, you know,
3:20you can be shattered inside, especially
3:22during
3:23wartime, especially
3:25mm
3:26families who, you know, lose some
3:29someone close in the in their family,
3:32um
3:33a child, God forbid, or uh
3:36a wife, a husband, a mother, that is
3:41it's just an internal
3:43uh breakdown. It's very hard.
3:45And it's much harder for them, I
3:48believe.
3:49Just so much harder than uh
3:51uh than it is for me with all these
3:54challenges.
3:56>> The weight of all of this sits
3:59often on your shoulders. And when
4:02someone does lose a child or a loved one
4:03or a or a wife or a sister or a
4:05daughter,
4:08I imagine,
4:10as I've seen from you know some of these
4:11photos I have here of you, I mean this
4:13photo in particular stands out to me.
4:15>> Oh, that's a terrible story.
4:18It's just a terrible story.
4:22That was uh
4:24that's when a missile hit a playground.
4:27And the missile speed was such that the
4:30siren didn't help at all. So, it was a
4:32matter of seconds. And the missile
4:34struck and children were killed. And
4:36both children were killed there.
4:38Mostly and adults, just adults right
4:40there. A couple I remember they were
4:42just out walking passing
4:44by. And because they were walking by and
4:48and and were killed.
4:50Parents,
4:52you know,
4:53like
4:54right on this on this side there are
4:57homes too. And parents there they
5:00some of them saw through the window. Do
5:03you understand what it's like to see
5:05through a window one of your children
5:08just torn apart. And toys just such a
5:13during such a tragedy it's a tradition
5:15to bring flowers for adults and toys for
5:19children.
5:20I went there. It's
5:22pain. I'll say it again. My pain can't
5:26even it's not even 10% of the parents'
5:29pain. It's terrifying.
5:31Just terrifying.
5:33A missile that cut short the life of a
5:36child who had seen nothing yet. Imagine.
5:40By the way,
5:42and there are children, a lot of them,
5:44among the fallen as well, who never
5:47lived in peace.
5:49I mean, we we lived in in in a different
5:53time. We understand what it's like to
5:55live when there are no sirens, no
5:57shelling, and so on. But, there are kids
5:59uh every night they go down to the bomb
6:01shelter when the alarm goes off, and the
6:03alarm goes off every night. Then, they
6:05come back up, and some of them have
6:06died. And just imagine, there are
6:09children who never knew what peace was.
6:12That's horrifying.
6:13Absolutely.
6:15>> You said at the start of this invasion,
6:17this war, that you weren't sleeping. You
6:21said early in this invasion, you said
6:23you've not earned the right to sleep.
6:25And I'm really curious about the sort of
6:26human toll that all of this has taken on
6:28you over the last four or five years,
6:30because it it never stops. It never
6:32ends.
6:33And you you are a human being just like
6:35all the rest of us. You have a family,
6:37you have kids.
6:38But, you have the the burden of this
6:41kind of horrific incident taking place
6:43in your country at all the all the time.
6:45What is what is the sort of human burden
6:48there? And are you sleeping?
6:51>> Uh I'll be honest. I
6:54uh don't sleep. I I'm a responsible
6:56person. I have different traits, good
6:59ones, not so good ones, like every
7:01person. Nobody's perfect. Yeah, and
7:04every night I speak with our air defense
7:07operators, with our guys who run the air
7:10defense.
7:11Every night we talk. Well, yeah, thanks
7:14to modern technology. It's very easy,
7:17and we text back and forth, what's
7:19needed right now, let's pull some over
7:22from another region. So, it's an
7:25active discussion, which obviously,
7:28well, doesn't let you sleep. Yeah, you
7:30know, getting 8 hours of sleep like that
7:32is something
7:33something totally new to me during these
7:36uh years, almost 5 years of war. I'm not
7:39complaining. I'm not complaining at all,
7:42and that's how I live. Uh
7:46The burden, the strongest emotion, I
7:49once answered this honestly. There's a
7:52moment when I present
7:54awards.
7:55And there's this moment when I award and
7:58personally the Hero of Ukraine, it's the
8:00highest honor. When I present this award
8:03to parents who
8:04lost a child, yeah, a boy or a girl
8:07soldiers.
8:09That feeling
8:13you know, well, how
8:16I cease to exist in that moment. I'm
8:19just well, it's not it's not pain, it's
8:22something terrible. I look at these
8:24people
8:25at their eyes, at what they say. Many of
8:28them say something and and there are
8:31people who just ask for a hug.
8:33Imagine you give an award to a father
8:36whose very strong hand you can feel.
8:39He's, you know, a strong man. You feel
8:41his strong hand and he just quietly says
8:44to you, "Can we hug?" So,
8:46they, well, you know, they're gone.
8:49Gone as people anymore. Well, for a
8:52time, then strong people
8:54try to survive. And these moments on the
8:58one on the one hand, I respect them. I
9:01do it, but on the other hand,
9:04it's hard to bear.
9:06I I understand them and it's a huge
9:10terrifying pain that I wouldn't wish on
9:12anyone.
9:13What these parents feel having lost a
9:16child, a soldier.
9:19These parents didn't lose a child on a
9:21playground. They lost a soldier. They
9:23knew that could happen.
9:26But knowing
9:27and losing are completely different
9:30things.
9:31>> I can see the tears in your eyes as you
9:34describe this.
9:36>> I'm a human being. I'm not ashamed to be
9:41who I am. I'm not the strongest man in
9:43the world.
9:45I try to set an example, but
9:48I'm definitely not a perfect person.
9:51Yeah.
9:53>> Is there anything that you do cuz this
9:55is a this is a lot to deal with, you
9:56know, I I hear you recounting the
9:58stories of dealing with these parents.
9:59Is there anything that you
10:01you do to take care of yourself? What is
10:02it that keeps you strong?
10:06>> My kids.
10:08My kids. I I just
10:11you know,
10:13I have to be
10:14an example. I told myself, maybe I don't
10:17have to, but that's what I told myself.
10:18I have to set an example for my kids.
10:21This is the way, that is not, and you
10:24have to set an example, be strong, be
10:27as brave as possible, but don't
10:32don't hide the pain. If you have it, you
10:34shouldn't say it. I don't feel anything
10:36because human beings by nature,
10:39they're alive, and that's their
10:40weakness, but it's also where a person's
10:42strength lies.
10:44That really is where our strength is,
10:46and so my kids keep me grounded, very
10:48much so. I want to set an example. I
10:51want them to be proud of me.
10:54>> We'll talk about that later, but there's
10:56um
10:57there's one big outstanding question,
10:58which is who is President Zelenskyy?
11:01And I've been through hundreds and
11:02hundreds of photos and stories from your
11:04childhood. I've got some
11:05some wonderful photos here of your
11:08earliest uh
11:10>> Yeah.
11:10>> days, and
11:11>> Yeah.
11:12>> And this is a beautiful one of your
11:14wonderful mother as well.
11:16>> That's my mom. Yeah.
11:19Mom was very beautiful. Well, she still
11:22is, but she's gotten older.
11:24>> Can you take me into your earliest
11:25contacts just so I can get a sort of a a
11:27view of what childhood was like for you?
11:31What's the context in which you grew up
11:32in really I'm I want to understand how
11:34that context
11:36and early experience fed into the man
11:38you are today, the perspective you have,
11:40the values that you cherish.
11:43>> I'm from the generation that um
11:48straddled
11:49uh two
11:51uh
11:52let's say
11:54two different lives.
11:56Meaning I was born in the Soviet Union
11:58when Ukraine was part of the Soviet
12:01Union and I grew up in an independent
12:03Ukraine.
12:05And I've always said that my kids
12:09they're lucky because they were born in
12:11an independent country without all
12:13these, you know, shades of gray. This is
12:16gray, that's something else. No, it's
12:18black and white, totally clear. They're
12:20patriots.
12:21They love their country and their
12:23country is Ukraine. While we were born
12:25in the Soviet Union
12:27and, you know, we
12:28we were kids
12:31from a fairly
12:33let's say not I don't want to offend
12:36anyone so my dad doesn't get upset.
12:38Well, from a regular very ordinary
12:39family, not not very well-off, let's put
12:43it that way. Yeah, let's put it that
12:44way. Well, that's and I think it's
12:46totally clear
12:47from the photos.
12:49Okay, I was born in Kryvyi Rih.
12:52An academic family in Soviet-era Ukraine
12:56wasn't um not not like, you know, in
13:00Europe or in the United States, an
13:02academic family with everything
13:04provided. Usually our academics didn't
13:08make a lot
13:09uh of money, but again, I'm I'm not
13:12complaining. I respect my father, an
13:14honest man, a professor.
13:16Well, values. Again and again
13:19I got an education
13:21and I got raised right and my parents
13:24love I think those three things are
13:27enough to be grateful to your parents.
13:32I'm not sure people find this
13:33interesting, so let's move on.
13:37>> Um when you were a young boy in this
13:40photos, when you're under the age of 10,
13:42had I asked you what you wanted to be
13:44when you grew up, what what would you
13:45have answered?
13:47>> Because and to be honest, I change like
13:49the wind.
13:51Honestly, there was a time when I really
13:54wanted to be a diplomat, wanted to be
13:58a border guard. Yeah, and then
14:01I went to law school, graduated from law
14:04faculty, and while studying I realized
14:07that I was more interested in media. So,
14:11I got out and started working that exact
14:13field.
14:14>> I mean, at 17 years old, you became
14:16interested in comedy.
14:17>> Yeah.
14:18>> And you joined a comedy group. And you
14:20from what I read, you you did that up
14:22until the age of about 26 years old. So,
14:24you were a comedian up until the age of
14:2526 years old
14:27before starting a media company.
14:30>> I Yeah, but I was more I enjoyed I was a
14:35scriptwriter. And so, sometimes as a
14:38writer, I also did um a little acting. I
14:42I enjoyed it.
14:43Yeah, until I was 26 and then then
14:47um at 26 I got my own company.
14:50>> There's some interesting stats I found.
14:52Uh 28 years old, you won Ukraine's
14:54Dancing with the Stars.
14:56>> Yeah.
14:58Yeah.
15:00>> So, you can dance?
15:02>> I think yeah.
15:04I'm not sure I did now I can.
15:06>> And later you voiced Paddington Bear in
15:09the Ukrainian language film.
15:10>> Yeah.
15:12I really
15:13really loved I think Paddington is a
15:16very cool thing.
15:19Really right and for the people. I'm not
15:22sure all of it is just for kids, to be
15:24honest, but nonetheless
15:26that character resonated deeply with me.
15:29And I I even after I became president
15:33the next Paddington installment was
15:36coming out. And all this was before the
15:39war. And they were sending me signals,
15:42"Would you consider voicing another
15:44Paddington movie?"
15:46I said, "Well, I'd really love to, but I
15:48didn't." Yeah.
15:51>> Nice.
15:52Um and then between 34 years old and 37
15:54years old, you appeared in a bunch of
15:55different feature films. And most
15:57interestingly, you starred as one
15:59particular character, a school teacher,
16:02who accidentally becomes president in a
16:05satirical TV series called Servant of
16:08>> of the people.
16:09>> the people.
16:10I think I have a photo.
16:12>> Yeah. Teacher of the people story.
16:14>> You've got to explain the context here,
16:15because people can't believe that this
16:17is true. They can't believe that you
16:19actually acted as an actor who
16:22accidentally becomes president.
16:24And you must find this bizarre
16:27that you then became president, because
16:28presumably at that time you weren't
16:29expecting to become president when you
16:31became an actor pretending to be
16:32president.
16:33>> Absolutely. I definitely didn't expect
16:36it. Absolutely. And this idea this this
16:38idea was about 10 to 12 years old.
16:42Once
16:44this idea came to me and I thought about
16:47it. I lived with this idea for a long
16:49time. I loved doing that. And at some
16:51point
16:52the feeling was that um
16:55the world is changing, Ukraine is
16:57changing, and right now this idea is
16:59relevant. It will resonate and people
17:02will like it.
17:03>> What was the idea?
17:05When you say the idea?
17:06>> The person from the people
17:08without any
17:10uh history, without any political
17:13background, becomes president.
17:16And that's how it turned out.
17:19To be honest.
17:21>> So you were playing a character
17:25in a TV series called Servant of the
17:27People and the character was
17:30pretending to be the president and you
17:33and you realized that actually the idea
17:35of there being a sort of servant of the
17:37people
17:38party or president was probably quite a
17:41good idea based on what was going on in
17:42Ukraine at that time
17:44and because of the government
17:45instability at the time you actually
17:47registered Servant of the People as a
17:49real political party in Ukraine.
17:51>> Ah, well, that sounds basically like a
17:54pretty good
17:55uh script. Yeah, but it wasn't honestly
17:58calculated like that. Um
18:01the series was very popular.
18:04In parallel there were a few other
18:06projects. We had a political satire
18:08project. Uh it was very popular. It was
18:11even before that series. So I already
18:14had my bearings in politics anyway.
18:17The point was that indeed um I decided
18:22to try my hand in this direction. I
18:24really wanted
18:26after the occupation of Crimea, after
18:28the occupation of Donbas, this whole
18:31situation changed us and you and and you
18:34started to feel like something something
18:37was going wrong here.
18:39And it's war, but there still wasn't
18:43wasn't that feeling yet because it
18:44wasn't a full-scale war. And so I
18:50didn't want to We were doing business
18:52with Belarus and with Kazakhstan and
18:54with Russia as well. We had offices and
18:57projects that we were filming and so on.
18:59So
19:00uh life changed. I I won't wanted to
19:03drop it all and this this sense of
19:06betrayal by Russia.
19:08Well, all of that happened and that's
19:10why
19:11and you chant chant this whole period
19:13changed you as well. And so it's not
19:16like it was some calculated plan, the TV
19:19show comes out and then a political
19:20party. I know about that.
19:22I know about that. Some people might
19:24think that. And that's fine, that's
19:25normal. People have their own opinions,
19:27that's normal.
19:29It coincided.
19:31The mood in society coincided
19:34with my
19:35inner mood and with my
19:38determination and desire. So, it's a
19:41coincidence of many things.
19:44>> There should be a button just down below
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20:00so much.
20:02So,
20:04you you talked about how
20:06it was really sort of a a change in the
20:08climate in Ukraine that caused you to
20:11move closer to politics because
20:13everything that was going on at the
20:14time, Russia invaded Crimea here in
20:182014. Yeah. Um they annexed Crimea.
20:22And this is And this And so 4 years
20:23after this point,
20:25you announce that you're going to run
20:27for president.
20:29Is this really when the war began
20:32in your view? Because there's been lots
20:33of people that have posited when the war
20:35began. Some people say the war began a
20:37thousand years ago. And they talk about
20:40the old Crimea and the everything that
20:42took took place there with the Rus.
20:44Um some people say it began in 2014. And
20:47some people say it began in 2022.
20:50In your mind, when did the war begin?
20:52I think for many people, that time
20:56really is different. But if we take take
21:01the new Ukraine that regained its
21:03independence in 1991
21:07in the 20th century,
21:09then I think that in 2014 all of us just
21:13couldn't believe it that this kind of
21:16occupation was happening. The war really
21:19started with the occupation of Crimea.
21:22That's true. It's just that it was slow
21:25that occupation. It didn't look much
21:28like a war. Why? Well, because Ukraine
21:30wasn't fighting back at that point.
21:33Meaning when they occupied
21:34Crimea, there were shots fired there, of
21:37course, but for a very long time Russia
21:40wouldn't admit these were its people.
21:43They looked like regular people. They
21:45even called them little
21:47green men. That's what they called them
21:49because you couldn't tell what that
21:50uniform was. Meaning these are people
21:52carrying some kind of weapons on the
21:54peninsula. And the problem was that
21:56there were no clear orders from the
21:58Ukrainian authorities that you need to
21:59defend your land, that someone violated
22:02your borders with with weapons, and is
22:04seizing seizing gradually seizing
22:06Crimea. So, it was really that kind of
22:09creeping occupation. Looking at that
22:12time today, not back in 2014, not in
22:162015, but today, you realize that that's
22:19when the war really began. Our mistake
22:23was not pushing them back. And of
22:25course, if there have been an order an
22:28order
22:29to defend the country, I'm sure that
22:33I think a full-scale war
22:35in the form it ha- it has today wouldn't
22:39have happened.
22:40Well, at least that's how it seems to
22:42me.
22:43>> Um I I read that your your
22:45great-grandfather and his grandfather's
22:48four brothers were killed by the Nazis,
22:50and his grandfather was the only brother
22:52to survive the war.
22:53And I wondered how that experience of
22:55having
22:56that in your family tree has
23:01changed how you think about this moment
23:03in time
23:04when you're facing a war with Russia?
23:08>> My grandfather went through World War II
23:11from start to finish.
23:13My grandfather, my father's dad,
23:17and he was, yeah, from a family where
23:19there were several brothers and all of
23:21them were killed by the Nazis.
23:23I have very few relatives in general
23:26on both sides of my family, on my
23:29father's and my mother's,
23:31many relatives were killed
23:34by the fascists. And that's all That's
23:38why it always sounded so bizarre when
23:41Russia accused us, Ukraine, of
23:43supposedly having Nazis. It's bizarre
23:46and completely wild.
23:48If people all knew even a little bit of
23:52history, they would realize that
23:53fascists in Ukraine
23:56fascism as such doesn't exist. Why?
23:59Because you Ukraine understands deep in
24:01its roots what it means to be under the
24:04fascists. Because during World War II,
24:07Ukraine was occupied 100% completely
24:11completely totally.
24:13Whereas Russia, Ukraine,
24:15Belarus was occupied, Ukraine, and Nazi
24:19Germany, it lost a huge number of its
24:22soldiers who died specifically in
24:24Belarus, Ukraine, because we all well,
24:27because our countries or our lands they
24:30stood and fought. Russia was not
24:32occupied.
24:34And that is also
24:36very important to understand. That's why
24:37all of our people in Ukraine saw it,
24:40well, you know, as barbaric and an
24:42outrage when Putin attacked us and said
24:45we have fascism and he's liberating
24:47Ukraine from fascists. I mean, it's
24:49absurd. We fought against the fascists.
24:52We were the ones liberating.
24:54>> A lot of people don't have the
24:55historical context on how this all
24:57began.
24:59If if I was a 16-year-old and I had no
25:02understanding of geopolitics and I asked
25:04you, President, and I said, "Could you
25:06explain to me the background context
25:08that I need to understand to understand
25:11what the hell is going on at the moment?
25:13What what why why are Russia going into
25:15Crimea? What is
25:17Vladimir Putin's perspective? Why does
25:19he think that that's okay? Why does he
25:20think that he can invade Ukraine? What
25:23is the historical context explained in
25:25the simplest terms to a 16-year-old
25:27about what the hell is going on here?
25:28And I'm going to give you all the time
25:29in the world to inform me."
25:32>> There was
25:34an empire
25:36called the Soviet Union.
25:38And that empire, it included a large
25:41number of what are now independent
25:43states.
25:45It's always like that with empires.
25:47Without getting into the historical
25:49context, everyone will understand this.
25:50It's always like that with empires.
25:51Empires exist for a while,
25:55and then they
25:56collapse.
25:58Because you can only hold everything
26:00together through autocracy,
26:02a territory like that, so many people,
26:04through tyranny,
26:06through feudalism, through slavery,
26:09through certainly not through freedom.
26:12Empires don't survive on freedom.
26:16And this is very important. Why do
26:18empires fall apart? Because people want
26:19to be free.
26:21Because people compare their lives in an
26:23empire with life in other countries,
26:25even small ones. They see how things
26:26develop there, they see how things
26:28develop there, how they live, walk
26:29freely,
26:31choose any partner they want, whatever
26:34hair color you like, music, clothes, and
26:36so on.
26:38Well, the Soviet Union, these empires,
26:40like everyone always said, the iron
26:42curtain. Why an iron curtain? So you
26:45wouldn't see what's out there in the
26:47west,
26:48in Europe, in the United States of
26:50America, in Britain, or anywhere in
26:52Asia. So, people couldn't see. In terms
26:54of information, an empire is
26:58hold,
26:59control everything, right? So, a
27:01complete information vacuum.
27:04There, you don't exist. Nothing exists.
27:06No internet, nothing. Television that
27:09you run and control, and people get the
27:12information. People live like fish in a
27:14fish tank.
27:16That's all it is. The fish tank can be
27:18massive like the Soviet Union, but it's
27:20still a fish tank.
27:22North Korea is a smaller fish tank, but
27:24it's a fish tank.
27:26And that's what happened with the Soviet
27:27Union. The Soviet Union fell apart.
27:31Countries were happy.
27:33Countries became independent, smaller.
27:35Ukraine is one of those countries. And
27:39when identity emerges, you have your own
27:41language, your own music, your own
27:43clothes, and so on. What exists all
27:46around the world? It's great. Tourism.
27:48You travel to Asia. You travel to
27:50Thailand. You travel to Japan. You
27:52travel to the United States. Different
27:55culture, different music, food, people,
27:58and everyone lives freely. And it's
28:00really cool to soak in another culture.
28:02That's the diversity. Why does an empire
28:05fall apart? Because it's made up of
28:07these kinds of
28:09people,
28:10nations that want to have their own
28:12thing.
28:14The Soviet Union fell apart,
28:16but nostalgia for the Soviet Union
28:20stayed with people.
28:22Putin
28:23was
28:24the president of Russia,
28:27and he set a goal for himself, and he's
28:30a purely Soviet man.
28:32A very Soviet man. He was an intelligent
28:35an intelligence officer. He He worked in
28:37the KGB in the KGB in Germany, and so
28:40on. He said, and this is his very famous
28:45phrase, that the greatest collapse of
28:47the 20th century in the world was the
28:50fall of the Soviet Union.
28:52And all of that shows that Russia just
28:55wasn't enough for him, and he had the
28:57ambition
28:58to go back to that, to bring back the
29:01empire, to bring back the Soviet Union,
29:03because he believes
29:05that another major country is to blame
29:08for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
29:09Which one? The United States of America.
29:13Because this has always been a
29:14geopolitical war. They're enemies.
29:16The Soviet Union and the and the United
29:19States of America, they were allies
29:21during World War II.
29:22And after that, you know, they're
29:25enemies, the Cold War and so on. So,
29:27it's very simple.
29:28Putin wanted to bring back the Soviet
29:31Union. And what is the Soviet Union?
29:35It is above all Ukraine.
29:38Ukraine, it's Ukraine. Ukraine is
29:40country number two.
29:42>> Why?
29:44>> They called the Soviet Union a forge of
29:46talent.
29:48In Ukraine, there were so many people
29:50who later led, had that kind of
29:53education.
29:54Because there were many scientists, many
29:57engineers, many universities, a huge
30:00intelligentsia. That's what they said,
30:02that for the Soviet Union, Ukraine was
30:04the forge of talent. In other words,
30:07in other words, many people who came
30:09from Ukraine, who then ran various
30:12institutions, ministries in the Soviet
30:14Union and so on. Meaning, it's the
30:15intellectual part of the Soviet Union.
30:18Ukraine was always rock the biggest
30:22rocket manufacturing was here. Nuclear
30:24weapons, which Ukraine handed over. A
30:26lot of things were made in in Ukraine.
30:30And
30:31what's the problem
30:33for Russia?
30:35If Ukraine becomes part of Europe,
30:38and without the Soviet Union, Ukraine
30:40started taking gradual steps in the
30:43other direction. Meaning, if Ukraine
30:45becomes part of Europe, then Russia will
30:48collapse.
30:50It will fall apart. There are many
30:51different peoples, different religions,
30:53entirely and simply different nations
30:55into many different countries.
30:58And Putin decided to piece this whole
30:59empire back together. This ambition,
31:01where do you start piecing it together?
31:04He
31:05started the war in Chechnya.
31:09He occupied Chechnya.
31:11A small country that is now part of
31:14Russia.
31:15He destroyed it completely. Everything
31:17that's happening in Eastern Ukraine,
31:20it's the very same commanders, military
31:23commanders who fought in Chechnya, who
31:25destroyed Chechnya completely. There was
31:28nothing left, no buildings, nothing.
31:29People were killed, killed. A huge
31:31number of people, by the way, were
31:32killed in Chechnya.
31:34And he occupied it.
31:37And then he decided to bring back the
31:39empire, starting with Ukraine, with a
31:42free state. One that wants to be in the
31:45European Union. One that is uh smart,
31:48intellectual. Other countries, too, but
31:50here, here's what it is.
31:53Well, and the start, there always has to
31:56be a pretext to start an occupation.
31:59What pretext? It's always a pretext.
32:02The pretext is always language.
32:05And he starts with Crimea.
32:08He starts the occupation with Crimea.
32:10Why? In Crimea,
32:11there were a lot of Russian-speaking
32:14people, Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
32:16But,
32:17to understand this, and
32:20in Crimea, there was deportation, there
32:23was more than one deportation, uh
32:25expulsion of the Tatars. In other words,
32:28Crimea has indigenous peoples, and it's
32:31a multi-ethnic peninsula.
32:33Uh but, um Um, what happened is he
32:36started the occupation with Crimea.
32:39And And with Donbas, with the East. Why?
32:42Because he divided society, unleashed
32:45this war
32:46based on language.
32:48Because language is always such an
32:50issue,
32:51a painful issue. And when you want to
32:53divide society, it's totally unfair.
32:56It's totally despicable toward the
32:58people. You start bringing up the
33:01language issue. So, he brought it up,
33:03said that I'm protecting
33:04Russian-speaking people, which wasn't
33:06true. Nobody took anything from anyone.
33:10Yeah, but it was just easier. The east
33:14of the country
33:15borders with the Russian Federation.
33:19>> Days before, I I think it was the day
33:21before Vladimir Putin ordered troops to
33:24invade Ukraine, he did a statement where
33:26he said modern Ukraine was entirely and
33:28completely created by Russia.
33:31More precisely, Bolshevik Communist
33:34Russia. This process began almost
33:36immediately after the 1917 Revolution.
33:38Soviet Ukraine is the result of
33:40Bolshevik policy and can rightly be
33:42called Vladimir Lenin's Ukraine. Ukraine
33:45never had a tradition of genuine
33:47statehood. So, he's very much denying
33:49that
33:51Ukraine is a nation of its own. Why did
33:53he choose to invade February 24th?
33:57Why did he choose then to invade? If he
33:59had invaded Crimea in 2014, why was in
34:03your view that the moment where he
34:04decided to cross the border and try and,
34:06by the looks of it, take control of the
34:08whole of Ukraine?
34:09>> Um, first of all, notice he talks about
34:12the Soviet Revolution of 1917.
34:15That's ridiculous to anyone. Your
34:18country's history can't start in 1917.
34:23In Ukraine, there are churches, everyone
34:25knows. We have very beautiful churches
34:26that are a thousand years old. Ukrainian
34:29churches, painted by Ukrainians, total
34:31master professionals, a thousand years
34:34old. Ukraine is
34:37it's the heir to Kievan Rus.
34:41A great state that was very well known
34:43in Europe on the European
34:45continent at least with an advanced
34:47civilization.
34:50It really with with its own art, with
34:53its own traditions and so on. Russia
34:55wasn't even close to existing. Russia
34:57came after Ukraine already existed. But
35:00he cuts all that out, starts with the
35:02revolution. Why from the October
35:04Revolution of 1917? Because he's talking
35:07about the history of the Soviet Union.
35:10Not about the history of Russia and not
35:12about the history of Ukraine. The Soviet
35:14Union. Why? Because he's signaling to
35:17people who
35:18are in Russia, who honestly, the kids,
35:21they get information in schools and they
35:23take it they don't go any deeper. He's
35:26signaling to them that their life is the
35:29Soviet Union and that's where we're
35:31heading back to. That's what he's doing.
35:34He started a full-scale war.
35:37The war started
35:3924th 24th
35:42of 22
35:43February 24th. Missile strikes were
35:46launched
35:48immediately from the territory. It was
35:51flying from every every side. Troops
35:53were also entering from the territory of
35:55Belarus, right?
35:57From here because it's the closest route
36:01to the capital. They were advancing on
36:02Kyiv and also
36:05came from all directions.
36:10They The main goal was to seize
36:14the capital of Ukraine. That was their
36:17main goal. Naturally, they were counting
36:20on the tough guys who were both Russian
36:23and the separatists already in the
36:25occupied
36:27in the occupied territory of Donbas.
36:29>> Why why in February 2022?
36:32Why not later? Why not sooner? Why was
36:35that the moment? What had happened that
36:37you know cuz I I part of the reason I
36:39ask this question is because
36:41President Donald Trump often blames Joe
36:44Biden
36:45for being weak and that giving Vladimir
36:48Putin an opportunity to invade because
36:50he didn't respect President Biden.
36:52That's what's claimed. Is there truth in
36:54that?
36:55>> I'll explain. I think that
36:58it was a little bit earlier.
37:01In 21
37:04there was a summit. I don't remember
37:06when anymore. I think I don't remember.
37:08There was a Biden-Putin summit. Remember
37:10that famous summit? We didn't have all
37:12the details. They came out and started
37:14talking about something
37:16publicly and so on.
37:19Then rumors started that they discussed
37:23the issue of a possible escalation
37:25against
37:27Ukraine.
37:28And we kept bringing up this issue over
37:31the next few months. We kept bringing it
37:34up with the Americans.
37:35And this could really happen. And they
37:38were saying, "Well, it could happen." We
37:40asked them then, "Please give us what we
37:42need to defend ourselves if there are
37:44such risks that some kind of occupation
37:47could start." We couldn't imagine though
37:49that
37:50full-scale invasion would start because
37:53we saw what Russian occupation looked
37:55like with Crimea and with
37:58Donetsk and Luhansk oblast. So, you
38:01imagined it differently. You couldn't
38:03imagine that overnight missiles would
38:05just start flying. Nobody had ever seen
38:07anything like that. Why were kids
38:09screaming? Why were people fleeing? Why
38:11was there absolute chaos? Those were
38:13horror absolutely horrifying moments
38:16because missiles are literally flying at
38:18you. Nowadays, a thousand drones fly in
38:21and we shoot them down. We fight. But
38:24back then, right around 4:00 in the
38:26morning, missiles were raining down on
38:28your head. Everyone was in shock. So, he
38:31did it in February because that's what
38:35he wanted to do.
38:37That was his his plan.
38:40I think he told Biden a whole lot of
38:42things.
38:43I remember, unfortunately, I think
38:46unfortunately, President Biden stepped
38:48in later. Um
38:50in in the first minutes or days of the
38:54war, I I had a call with him back then
38:57when he offered to evacuate me. Back
39:00Back then, a lot of people offered me
39:01help. I said, "Give us weapons. Help us
39:04defend
39:05the country." And I think they realized
39:09that it's impossible to occupy us.
39:12That's what I think think happened.
39:15I think that um uh the United States
39:18back then,
39:20um I don't know, maybe they did consider
39:22that it could turn out that uh there'd
39:24be a conflict and we might be occupied,
39:26but nobody counted on us holding out for
39:28sure.
39:30I remember that uh
39:32I think a day before, God, that was so
39:34long ago. I've forgotten so much
39:35already. A day before the invasion,
39:38the Europeans who knew less than the
39:40Americans, they were talking
39:43with Putin. And Putin promised them
39:46there wouldn't be an invasion. Oh, he
39:48lied to all of them back then. Just He
39:50knew there would be an invasion. He knew
39:53everything.
39:55>> When did you first get a phone call
39:56telling you that
39:59Russia were planning to invade Ukraine?
40:02How many days before it happened did you
40:03get that call? And who was the the call
40:05from?
40:06>> It It was never direct, like Russia
40:09plans an invasion on such and such day,
40:13and there will be a full-scale war like
40:15this and that. It was never like that.
40:17These were very cautious diplomatic
40:19signals and so on.
40:21And this uh how can I put it?
40:26We kept bringing up this issue. Why?
40:28Because people were worried. And people
40:31were worried. That affected the economy
40:34and affected the currency and the
40:37stability of the national currency
40:39started to drop, which affected the
40:41country's economy. And we asked the
40:43Americans, "Give us a clear signal. If
40:46you believe this is war, then give us
40:49weapons urgently.
40:51Everything you can give because well,
40:54that's what our um dialogue was like.
40:57Yeah, well, but nobody would would give
40:59anything. And I asked, "Impose
41:00sanctions." That's something everybody
41:03in Europe knew about. They knew. I asked
41:06President Biden, "Impose sanctions on
41:09Russia now, preemptively. If you know
41:13there could be an invasion, impose
41:15sanctions. We other And then he won't go
41:18in if he's really decided to."
41:20But President Biden said, "We'll impose
41:23sanctions if there's an invasion." Post
41:26factum, not preemptive sanctions, but
41:28post factum.
41:29I'm
41:30not God to judge
41:33uh a president, but I believe that was
41:36a mistake in my view.
41:39>> Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022,
41:42but in October 2021,
41:44the Director of National Intelligence
41:46and CIA Director briefed US leadership
41:49and top NATO allies that Putin was
41:50making concrete plans for multi-front
41:53invasion.
41:55And European media published satellite
41:57imagery showing 100,000 Russian troops,
42:00tanks, and field hospitals
42:02that had started to emerge. And CIA
42:04Director flew to Moscow to warn Putin
42:06directly against invading in November
42:082021. Then in December 2021,
42:12the US government took the rash step of
42:13declassifying intelligent maps and troop
42:15estimates predicting an invasion force
42:18of up to 175,000 troops to prevent
42:21Russia from using a false flag operation
42:23as a pretext. And then in late January,
42:25early February 2021, the US National
42:28Security Advisor publicly warned that
42:30invasion could begin at any time urging
42:32foreign citizens to evacuate Ukraine.
42:34And then on February 24th, 2022, Russia
42:37launched the full-scale invasion.
42:41And they launched the invasion from
42:42multiple sides.
42:44Really with the focus on Kyiv.
42:45>> Yes.
42:47>> Can you remember where you were
42:50when you realized that they had crossed
42:53multiple borders of Ukraine at the same
42:55time? I I
42:56I want to If I was a fly on the wall
42:59in whatever room you were in, wherever
43:00you were, what would I have seen? Where
43:02were you? How did you find out?
43:05>> First of all, I'd like you to know that
43:09in Belarus, the Russians were conducting
43:12drills, training. These were annual
43:14drills. That's very important because
43:17when we talked to our partners and they
43:20uh briefed like you're saying folks from
43:22NATO and so on, nobody fully believed
43:24it. Why? Because everybody said
43:27they were just saber-rattling.
43:30Putin was intentionally trying to scare
43:33everyone. He wouldn't launch an
43:35invasion. What I just told you. European
43:37leaders called him. He said, "I won't
43:40invade." He had exercises in Belarus,
43:43military exercises. On top of that, our
43:45defense minister was invited there.
43:48To these exercises and he was there.
43:52Just so you understand.
43:54Imagine that. He went there, came back,
43:57and so on. And then the full-scale
43:59invasion started from multiple
44:01directions. And what the Europeans said,
44:06echoing my messages, was impose
44:08sanctions and give weapons to the
44:10Ukrainians. If you know an invasion is
44:12coming, the Americans didn't do that.
44:14They didn't give them and didn't impose
44:16sanctions and that's why everyone had
44:18doubts. Everyone thought the Russians
44:20were just bluffing. Why? Because he
44:22wanted to push us into the Minsk
44:25agreements and so on so that we'd give
44:27them Donbas and recognize Donbas as not
44:31Ukraine and also recognize Crimea as not
44:33Ukraine. That's what
44:35In other words, that was the format of
44:37pressure. But what happened happened.
44:39What did you believe?
44:42I didn't think there would be a
44:43full-scale invasion.
44:45And so on so that we'd give them Donbas
44:47and recognize as not Ukraine and also
44:50recognize Crimea as not Ukraine. That's
44:53what In other words, that was the format
44:54of pressure.
44:55But what happened happened. I didn't
44:57think there would be a full-scale
44:58invasion. I didn't think so because I
45:00believe that if people know there's
45:02going to be a full-scale invasion,
45:03partners and so on and they don't take
45:05preemptive steps.
45:07Don't sit him down at the table. Don't
45:08tell him, "Are you out of your mind?
45:11Have you lost your mind to wage war in
45:13the 20th century, to kill people? You're
45:15completely unhinged."
45:17But even so, a full-scale invasion
45:19happened and
45:21just and they approached Kyiv very
45:24quickly.
45:26Like really quickly.
45:28I mean, it was just it was well, an
45:32avalanche and I was
45:35I was with my family.
45:39And I was with my family. I got a call
45:42from the office
45:44saying that before that
45:46during the night,
45:47missiles
45:49were flying. Missiles. I got ready. Told
45:52my wife, told the kids,
45:56told them the war has started.
45:58And I went to the office. I arrived at
46:00the office. I was
46:01the first or second the second person, I
46:03think,
46:05in the office and I called everyone in
46:07and we started
46:08uh
46:10started the work day. Such a terrible
46:13work day,
46:15the first one during the full-scale war.
46:18>> What did your wife say?
46:22>> I don't remember.
46:24I It was very fast. Everything happened
46:26so fast.
46:27I told my wife, "Wake up quickly. The
46:29war has started. I I love you. I'll call
46:32you." and
46:33ran up.
46:36>> And life is not been the same since.
46:39>> Absolutely. It's just a different life.
46:42Everything is different.
46:44Everything's different.
46:45100%.
46:50>> When I was doing my research on that day
46:53when Russia invaded, what I couldn't
46:54believe is just the the volume of troops
46:58that rolled across the border. I read
47:00one thing that said there was 65 km
47:04of armored vehicles and troops on one
47:07particular road as they tried to take
47:09Kyiv.
47:11Um I want to talk about that, but I I
47:12just I really want to also get an answer
47:14to this sort of outstanding question in
47:15my head, which is Trump has repeatedly
47:16said, probably 100 times now, that this
47:19never would have begun. It never would
47:21have happened if he was president. Do
47:24you believe that?
47:27>> Uh
47:28uh
47:33I think that no nobody knows the answer,
47:35honestly.
47:37Um
47:40the fact
47:42remains that this happened during
47:44Biden's presidency.
47:47That's a fact.
47:49It's a fact that this didn't happen
47:50under
47:51Trump.
47:53A fact.
47:56But it's also a fact that Putin
47:59chose the moment for
48:02a full occupation. That's also a fact.
48:07I think Trump had a special relationship
48:09with Putin
48:10and still does.
48:12And maybe
48:15uh it really is possible that
48:18um
48:19Trump being on friendly terms with Putin
48:21could have prevented a full-scale
48:23invasion.
48:24But,
48:26one thing you have to know for sure,
48:28neither I nor Trump, we we're not
48:31eternal in these presidential seats.
48:34And so, either way,
48:36Trump's presidency would have ended and
48:39Putin still
48:40uh wouldn't have been able to change his
48:42main goal, the occupation of Ukraine.
48:45So, I think that
48:47honestly, it doesn't matter who
48:49um the president is
48:50as long as Putin is there.
48:54>> On February the 24th, when Russia
48:56invaded Ukraine, it is reported that
48:59they sent There's different numbers, but
49:00some of the numbers go up to up 200,000
49:03troops that were assembled across the
49:05Ukrainian border. It varies between
49:06150,000 and 190,000.
49:09And when I look at the total active
49:12number of troops in Ukraine at the time,
49:14it's almost the same number.
49:16So, it's almost as if Russia deployed
49:19the full size of the
49:21the number of active-duty personnel you
49:22had into Ukraine to attack Ukraine
49:24specifically to take Kyiv.
49:28Can you Can you just explain to me in
49:29simple terms how they staged that
49:31attack? You said that some troops came
49:33in from Belarus. There was uh support
49:35that came in trying to take Kyiv as
49:37well. I think
49:38>> Uh
49:38they knew that our main forces
49:42uh
49:43our main forces were in the
49:46east of our country, Donetsk and Luhansk
49:50regions. Yes, Donetsk Luhansk region.
49:53Why were
49:55Donetsk Luhansk regions where our main
49:58units were? Look, there is Kharkiv which
50:01was also their target. Look, this whole
50:03all this
50:04all this whole part. Mariupol, which was
50:07very important to them. Donetsk, which
50:09was already occupied and so on. So,
50:12what was the bottom line?
50:15Because when part of it was occupied,
50:17when Donetsk was occupied, look,
50:19Makiivka, Yenakiieve, all of that was
50:22after the occupation of Crimea. Look,
50:24all of this was occupied, this entire
50:26part.
50:27The very strong troops were stationed
50:29here.
50:30Strong both in terms of numbers and
50:33strength. And the separatists, and they
50:36were fighting against us. Meaning, you
50:38have to understand, these are people who
50:40considered Donetsk their homeland. These
50:42aren't just Russians, these are
50:44separatists. So, there were both
50:45separatists and Russians here. So, this
50:47was their strongest grouping. And our
50:50strongest grouping was stationed right
50:52here.
50:54And that was and that and that was
50:56constantly. They were here, they were
50:57stationed right here. Why were they Why
50:59were they stationed here? Because they
51:02were holding back the strongest Russian
51:04grouping so it wouldn't break through.
51:07And
51:09nobody expected that they would go
51:11through Belarus and advance on the
51:14capital.
51:16And that's why we didn't have any strong
51:18troops here. That is an absolute fact.
51:20We simply didn't have that kind of army.
51:23The entire Ukrainian army was Well,
51:25excuse me, it was later I changed the
51:27law to make it 200,000 plus up to 250.
51:31But before that, it was an even smaller
51:33force. And just imagine, 200,000 people
51:35are coming at you.
51:37Well, it's simply impossible to defend.
51:39You need an army like the one we have
51:41today, 800,000, which was actually
51:44the main problem for the Russians
51:46troops.
51:48When when we they couldn't take our
51:50capital.
51:53We held out and destroyed them.
51:57They
51:59couldn't
52:00they didn't have enough troops
52:03to hold the occupied territories here.
52:06And they had to
52:08pull back. We were hitting them and they
52:09were pulling back.
52:11And that's how we fully took back Kyiv
52:14region, Chernihiv region, and that whole
52:17front. We completely restored it and
52:19pushed them out entirely. So,
52:21it's completely obvious they just didn't
52:23have enough troops.
52:25Just like at first when they pushed in,
52:26we didn't have a strong army here.
52:29We didn't have enough troops.
52:32And later the same happened to them.
52:34Naturally, when the full-scale invasion
52:36started, we uh there was mobilization.
52:39And people there were lines. People
52:41showed up as volunteers. And our army
52:43grew from 200,000 to an army of 800,000.
52:48While the Russian presence was around By
52:51the way, the Russian presence was
52:54um around
52:56700, probably at that moment around
52:58700,000 across all directions on
53:00Ukrainian territory.
53:03Meaning this was a massive onslaught
53:04coming in, a massive onslaught.
53:06>> There's um in late February, satellite
53:09imagery captured a massive 64 km, which
53:13is 40 mi long, Russian military convoy
53:16>> Yeah, it was terrifying footage. Yeah,
53:18all of that.
53:19>> backed up along a single highway leading
53:21to Kyiv. And when you see 64 km of
53:25military military vehicles and armored
53:27vehicles heading to one city, and then
53:29you hear that they failed to take that
53:31city,
53:32the question like
53:34how?
53:35>> How?
53:36>> Um
53:37They captured By the way, the Chernobyl
53:39nuclear plant where the disaster
53:41happened, all of that was occupied. That
53:43whole route was occupied.
53:45They occupied it and blockaded Kyiv. How
53:48did we People stepped up.
53:52People went to mobilize. Yes, a huge
53:54number on the first day we we
53:57left
53:59uh left the country
54:01headed toward western Ukraine, the
54:04western part of our country. They left.
54:07But a lot of people stayed.
54:09mobilized
54:11And we we brought up our troops
54:15and started fighting them.
54:18Day after day
54:22we pushed back harder. They cut off our
54:25food, cut off our water, cut everything
54:28off completely. So that was their That
54:30was their mission.
54:32They expected people
54:34to run
54:35and me
54:37and certain people came to me and they
54:39said, "Kyiv is cut off
54:42and Kyiv is surrounded and the Russians
54:45are suggesting you hand over your powers
54:48and and
54:50that's it." Meaning Kyiv
54:52must surrender.
54:54Uh
54:55naturally I told those people where to
54:57go.
54:58Uh let's put it that way. Uh
55:01out of my office.
55:03And then as you know uh
55:06leaders were calling offering to
55:07evacuate before all the roads were
55:10blocked.
55:11Uh to get out of Kyiv.
55:13>> Who called you and asked you if you
55:15wanted to be evacuated? And did they
55:17make you an offer to evacuate you
55:19themselves?
55:20>> Biden.
55:21>> Joe Biden asked you if you wanted to be
55:22evacuated.
55:22>> the first.
55:24The first.
55:24>> What did he say?
55:26>> We are ready to help you evacuate
55:29because
55:30uh naturally well, the invasion Kyiv is
55:34surrounded and you we are ready to help
55:36you you and your family.
55:39Uh likewise, many Europeans offered me
55:41that later, several Europeans,
55:44uh and people uh
55:47around me as well,
55:48let's say people around me from our
55:52political circle also
55:54suggested, yeah, doing all that.
55:57>> What did you say to Biden?
56:02>> I I need ammunition
56:04not a ride.
56:07>> Did you tell your wife and your family
56:09to leave?
56:12>> Um
56:18they all um
56:23nobody could go anywhere because that
56:25was a choice. Uh that was
56:28uh
56:29the families and there's uh
56:33uh
56:33naturally, they weren't in the office
56:35with me or the security detail took them
56:38and they went
56:40uh to to to another location, yeah.
56:43Well, because it was clear that that
56:45uh there was just shoot there was
56:47shooting right around the president's
56:50office and it was obvious how this could
56:52all end.
56:54And they asked me to go down to the
56:56bunker. Down there I had
56:58uh it was very deep underground built
57:02right inside my office.
57:04And in that bunker, I started working.
57:07Uh that's where Biden called me.
57:10Uh all around my office was secured by
57:13snipers, various guys of ours, special
57:16services.
57:17And I was in the bunker.
57:20Uh down there I had
57:23communications and I spoke with all the
57:25leaders from there. That's where I first
57:27did a video call with the Europeans
57:30pleading with them to unite, help
57:31Ukraine, not abandon us, and it worked.
57:34Yeah.
57:36And I continued
57:38being there, going out into the street,
57:40talking to to the people, showing myself
57:43because there were so many in those
57:45first few days, there were so so many
57:48narratives. Russia was put putting out a
57:50lot of information claiming I had fled.
57:53So basically their whole idea was
57:55for people to run, and people would run
57:58if they saw that their leader abandon
58:00them.
58:01Well, I mean, excuse me, if the leader
58:03abandoned the capital, well, then
58:04everyone has to uh
58:07survive on their own. So that was the
58:09whole story. They wanted me to run,
58:12and for them for them that was yeah,
58:15obviously, that was their goal.
58:17I couldn't abandon Kyiv, the office, the
58:21people.
58:22It's just impossible. That would be
58:24betrayal. Betrayal
58:26my human decency and the constitution of
58:28Ukraine.
58:30So, I couldn't uh
58:32do that.
58:34Well, and and that's it. That's it. And
58:36then and they put the Russians
58:38constantly pushed information that I
58:39wasn't there, then that I was spotted at
58:42the border, then that I was seen uh
58:45somewhere else, then in other countries,
58:47and all of that forced me to go out into
58:50the street all the time. Two, three
58:52times a day I made a decision to
58:54constantly communicate, constantly say
58:57something to people so people could see
58:58that I was in the office on Bankova,
59:00that I hadn't fled anywhere, hadn't run
59:02away. That was important for the
59:03military, too. Later on, with time, the
59:06military
59:07uh told me that it meant a lot to them.
59:09They stood strong, fought, defended, and
59:13liberated Kyiv because they believed
59:15they were liberating their capital,
59:17their home, and their president, meaning
59:20that he didn't abandon us, that he
59:22stayed with us. That's what they said.
59:24Well,
59:25it was my duty. I don't see it as some
59:28kind of uh
59:30very special
59:32choice of mine. I believe that this was
59:34the only way I could act.
59:38>> Well, were you scared?
59:40Because if I you have a nuclear power,
59:43one of the biggest militaries in the
59:44world that have 64 miles of military
59:48equipment heading towards where you are,
59:51and you have them invading also by air,
59:54firing missiles
59:56cities that you're in and your family
59:57are in,
59:59you've made the decision you're going to
1:00:00stay.
1:00:03Were you scared?
1:00:06>> Mhm.
1:00:07Scared? Mhm.
1:00:09It's a different feeling. It's not about
1:00:11fear, it's about being well, being
1:00:14laser-focused
1:00:16on what needs to be done right now.
1:00:18We were working at such speed.
1:00:22I can't even tell you.
1:00:24I was just running around the office.
1:00:26I was running, making decisions, calling
1:00:29leaders. I just had no breaks. I had I
1:00:31don't know dozens of calls with leaders
1:00:34every single day, every hour, every
1:00:37second. I'd run outside, come back, talk
1:00:40to the military, come back. So, I just
1:00:43didn't have time for that. I only
1:00:44realized it
1:00:46all about
1:00:4720 days
1:00:49into the war. I just realized that
1:00:52something happened, something terrible,
1:00:55and
1:00:56and the speed, you know, when the speed
1:00:58slightly
1:00:59slightly began to shift, you started to
1:01:01realize, my god,
1:01:03well, this is war. This is and it's
1:01:05without a doubt a horrible war.
1:01:08Yeah, but at first I I was just working.
1:01:11Honestly, uh I have this trait. I don't
1:01:14even think it's just me. People have
1:01:17this trait
1:01:18to pull yourself together when, you you
1:01:20shock.
1:01:21Mhm.
1:01:22People around you are in shock and you
1:01:24see it in their eyes. You see that they,
1:01:27you know, well, they're in shock. And
1:01:29you realize that you need to act right
1:01:30now.
1:01:32Just act. Act every second. Draw
1:01:36conclusions. Kyiv is blockaded. Open it
1:01:39up. Tell the military, "Open the road.
1:01:42We need food to get in, water, and so
1:01:44on." That is That's what crisis
1:01:46management is.
1:01:48And in tough situations, basically,
1:01:50that's usually how I I act in tough
1:01:52situations. And it's not like I'm
1:01:55uh again, the bravest person. It's just
1:01:57when this kind of thing hits,
1:01:59I see people around me falling apart,
1:02:01you know, falling apart. Well, because
1:02:03it's a terrible war, I pull myself
1:02:05together completely. And only later,
1:02:08relate once you've relaxed,
1:02:11you realized that a terrible tragedy
1:02:13occurred. A war and
1:02:17and
1:02:20it's just immense grief.
1:02:22Pretty much like that.
1:02:25>> When When did things slow down enough
1:02:27for you to realize the severity and the
1:02:29impact of the tragedy that had taken
1:02:30place and the lives that were lost? Was
1:02:32there a particular moment?
1:02:34>> The first few days,
1:02:36I didn't
1:02:37sleep at all.
1:02:39The first few days we just worked. I was
1:02:42sleeping about, yeah, 15 minutes,
1:02:44sleeping 15 minutes because I had My
1:02:46entire job was
1:02:48communication.
1:02:50I was talking in circles with every
1:02:52leader, "Deliver this over there. Do
1:02:54that there." We set up flawless
1:02:57logistics
1:02:58uh for weapons. We We were able
1:03:01uh I was talking at night with Poland,
1:03:04with Andrzej Duda. There was a warehouse
1:03:06there. We were waking leaders up with
1:03:09meaning in the middle of the night. So,
1:03:10it was Well, it's improper to say this
1:03:12today. You shouldn't treat people like
1:03:14that. But that's how it was. And about
1:03:1720 days later
1:03:19into the war
1:03:20everything started coming together into
1:03:22some
1:03:23steps that needed to be taken into some
1:03:25kind of
1:03:27well, like the realization that
1:03:29well
1:03:31a war had begun.
1:03:33War, tragedy
1:03:35and we have to move forward.
1:03:37And well, that's about how it was. At
1:03:40first, it was
1:03:41crisis management
1:03:43unblock
1:03:45bring back troops, break the siege of
1:03:48Kyiv, strike back at them
1:03:52and definitely the most crucial things
1:03:55were
1:03:56mm communications
1:03:58food
1:04:00water
1:04:01the population. So, many cities were cut
1:04:04off.
1:04:05It wasn't just the banking system,
1:04:07cards, making sure cards worked. I mean,
1:04:11we're a pretty digitalized country. So,
1:04:15a lot of things were done.
1:04:17Mm-mm, a lot of things were done in
1:04:18those first weeks. We were faster than
1:04:22the Russians.
1:04:23They broke through quickly toward Kyiv.
1:04:26And once we stopped them at Kyiv, we
1:04:29became much faster in the information
1:04:32space and so on. We shattered their
1:04:34whole their whole wave of disinformation
1:04:37and just broke them down step by step
1:04:40step by step
1:04:42until
1:04:44mm
1:04:46they realized that
1:04:48they lost the capital to us.
1:04:50And and then it became clear that
1:04:54we had to push harder.
1:04:56Our partners helped. Our partners
1:04:59realized that we wouldn't give up and
1:05:01they started helping.
1:05:03That was
1:05:04definitely it. I remember how it
1:05:05happened.
1:05:07>> It is often said that Vladimir Putin
1:05:09believed he would be able to take Kyiv
1:05:12in Ukraine in just a number of days and
1:05:13actually captured Russian assault units
1:05:15carried only 3 to 10 days of combat
1:05:18rations alongside formal dress uniforms
1:05:21meant for a victory victory parade.
1:05:24While state media accidentally released
1:05:26a pre-scheduled victory declaration on
1:05:29day three. Although Putin never never
1:05:31publicly uttered the phrase three days
1:05:33was said sort of time frame himself,
1:05:35there are top Russian state media
1:05:37figures um who openly bragged that the
1:05:40conquest would take only a few days.
1:05:43What is it that they mis underestimated
1:05:45about Ukraine?
1:05:47>> That's right. Exactly what you started
1:05:49with today, that Ukraine is not Russia.
1:05:52That's his problem. Refusing to
1:05:54recognize a separate nation, refusing to
1:05:57recognize a separate country. That's
1:05:59what did him in. He still doesn't
1:06:01understand that he looks at Ukraine as
1:06:04Russia, as part of Russia. That I'll
1:06:06march in with an army, we'll have
1:06:08hundreds of thousands of men. He'll slam
1:06:11his fist on the table, the president
1:06:12will run away, people will hide, and the
1:06:15Ukrainian flag will be swapped for the
1:06:17Russian flag, and that's it. Three days.
1:06:19We showed a military operation that was
1:06:21supposed to take three days. That's how
1:06:23it is. When our guys hit their tanks and
1:06:25stuff, we found parade uniforms. It's
1:06:27true, they found parade uniforms in
1:06:29their various military vehicles. They
1:06:31were literally marching to a parade.
1:06:34They specifically wanted to capture Kiev
1:06:36in three days and symbolically hold some
1:06:39well some kind
1:06:40uh
1:06:41regular spectacle uh of pseudo victory
1:06:46on Khreshchatyk, on Independence Square.
1:06:49Well, I mean, that's the most important
1:06:51thing. He still doesn't understand and
1:06:54doesn't want to admit that this is a
1:06:56different nation, a different people.
1:06:59>> Just 12 hours ago Trump weighed in on
1:07:01what he believed happened with Kiev and
1:07:04why Vladimir Putin wasn't able to take
1:07:07Kiev. This is what he said. I'll throw
1:07:08it up on the screen for the listeners.
1:07:10>> But then it was supposed to be a very
1:07:12much quick, you know, a very quick war.
1:07:14>> Right.
1:07:14>> And if you remember the tanks going up
1:07:16the highway right into Kiev, had the
1:07:18general who was obviously a not a very
1:07:20good general not made a right turn into
1:07:23farmland which was soaked and soaking
1:07:25wet from the heaviest rain in 10 years,
1:07:27they say.
1:07:27>> Mhm.
1:07:28>> He went right up into the mud and it was
1:07:30like quicksand and those tanks so they
1:07:32got, I guess, I don't know if you call
1:07:34it lucky or
1:07:35>> Not lucky, frankly, cuz it's been 5
1:07:36years and Ukraine has lost
1:07:38a tremendous
1:07:40You know, Ukraine has lost
1:07:43so many of its men. Number one, had they
1:07:45not taken the right turn onto dirt
1:07:47instead of going up a concrete highway,
1:07:49it would have ended in one day.
1:07:52>> So Trump says that it was a Russian
1:07:54mistake
1:07:56taking a wrong turn
1:07:57that stopped this war being over in a
1:07:59day.
1:08:01>> No, they surrounded Kiev. They they
1:08:03reached Kiev. They occupied towns on the
1:08:07way to Kiev. Uh some they didn't occupy
1:08:10towns fought back, they bypassed them.
1:08:13No, if someone took a wrong turn, I
1:08:15don't know what President Trump is
1:08:16talking about. It's Overall, it doesn't
1:08:19matter. With all the armor they lost
1:08:21near Kiev, Hostomel and so on. In other
1:08:24words,
1:08:25dozens, hundreds of armored vehicles
1:08:28burned. They just They just trapped us
1:08:32and then we started hammering them and
1:08:34they didn't know what to do about it
1:08:35because some of their armor breached
1:08:37into Kiev, right into the capital.
1:08:39Armored vehicles drove through the
1:08:41streets and people burned it all down.
1:08:44They were especially shocked when they
1:08:46drove toward the capital and people were
1:08:48just
1:08:49throwing burning debris. I mean, peo-
1:08:52people were
1:08:53setting their armor on fire.
1:08:56It wasn't a matter of some general being
1:08:58an idiot. I believe the one who gave the
1:09:01order just didn't fully realize what was
1:09:04happening, didn't really get what it
1:09:05would take.
1:09:07And
1:09:08that's the main point. They needed
1:09:09around
1:09:11thousands
1:09:12thousands.
1:09:15I think 3 to 400,000
1:09:18to take Kyiv. They needed twice as many
1:09:21men.
1:09:22Why? Because taking Kyiv, what does
1:09:24taking Kyiv mean? When you've taken
1:09:26those towns on the on the way to Kyiv,
1:09:29you have to leave troops behind to hold
1:09:31those towns. And that takes a huge
1:09:33number of people. It's a pretty large
1:09:35territory, and you can avoid leaving
1:09:37many troops there only if there's no
1:09:39resistance.
1:09:40But if the people inside offer
1:09:42resistance, then you you need an army to
1:09:45hold every town. That was their That was
1:09:48their mistake. They didn't estimate,
1:09:51right? Didn't estimate uh they didn't
1:09:54even realize there would be resistance.
1:09:57That's it.
1:09:59That was their main mistake.
1:10:06Um
1:10:07And then then that's it. That's all. For
1:10:09example, if you take uh
1:10:11that operation back in 2014,
1:10:16when they uh went in and seized uh
1:10:20Crimea.
1:10:22Then pardon me, in Crimea
1:10:25there are 3 million people.
1:10:29And Kyiv had 3 million people.
1:10:33Dozens of people
1:10:35entered Crimea.
1:10:37At most hundreds.
1:10:40And here hundreds of thousands.
1:10:42It's not
1:10:44about the operation. The difference is
1:10:46people defended it, stood up and fought.
1:10:50And the difference is no one fought
1:10:51back.
1:10:52Which is why I said
1:10:54when dozens of people showed up here.
1:10:58Where Trump is right
1:10:59is that if Crimea hadn't been allowed to
1:11:01fall, there would be no war. On this I
1:11:04agree with President Trump.
1:11:06Not because I'm blaming anyone. No, it's
1:11:08just that dozens of people went into
1:11:10Crimea, dozens. For a country like this,
1:11:12that's zero, that's nothing. We handled
1:11:15hundreds of thousands.
1:11:18Here here here's what happened. And if
1:11:19they'd been smacked in the head back
1:11:21then, uh the Russians, those people
1:11:23wearing uniforms,
1:11:25meaning the Russians would have even
1:11:26said, "Hey, that's They were already say
1:11:28saying that's not our army. Look at the
1:11:30uniforms.
1:11:31You can't tell us the Russian army." And
1:11:33if they'd been hit back then,
1:11:35well, it wouldn't have happened. Well,
1:11:36at least there wouldn't have been a
1:11:38chance of a full-scale war. Why? Because
1:11:40Putin would have known there would be
1:11:44a blow. There would be a response. But
1:11:46what was his mistake here?
1:11:49First of all,
1:11:50when he saw how Crime- Crimea was seized
1:11:53so easily, so easily, that's why he
1:11:56thought he could seize Kyiv just as
1:11:57easily. That was his experience.
1:12:00>> And there's quite a famous battle that
1:12:02took place um to secure the
1:12:05Antonov Airport.
1:12:07>> Hostomel.
1:12:09Uh Hostomel Antonov. That's what I just
1:12:12told you. That's a battle There's a
1:12:14terrible battle in Hostomel.
1:12:16A brutal battle. The airport in
1:12:18Hostomel.
1:12:19>> Can you explain that to me? Um because I
1:12:21I watched a documentary on this a couple
1:12:22of months ago, and it feels like it was
1:12:24a really pivotal moment in defending
1:12:27Kyiv.
1:12:28What were Russia trying to do? Where is
1:12:30this
1:12:30>> when they land
1:12:32for them it was crucial to seize the
1:12:34airports.
1:12:35Hostomel is one of uh the airports where
1:12:38a massive landing force could could land
1:12:42and so on. So, here's how a takeover
1:12:44works. Block Kyiv, capture the airports,
1:12:47basically TV towers, and so forth. In
1:12:50other words, seize information,
1:12:52logistics, and cut off supplies of food,
1:12:58weapons, and so on. That that's base
1:13:00basically the plan and you need the
1:13:03leader to to run because no leader means
1:13:06chaos, no chain of command. That's what
1:13:08they were doing. There was a terrible
1:13:10battle in Hostomel. Our people burned
1:13:13them there and they had very tough
1:13:14combat
1:13:16units. They couldn't uh
1:13:19land a large force there. They were
1:13:21destroyed.
1:13:22Uh Hostomel was taken back. Uh our
1:13:25troops controlled it.
1:13:27That was one of the striking battles, a
1:13:30terrible battle, one of the most
1:13:31striking battles. So, we did everything
1:13:33possible not to let them capture us and
1:13:37seize our logistics.
1:13:39>> They they flew in with paratroopers. So,
1:13:41they parachuted people into that airport
1:13:44to try and claim it and they originally
1:13:46did seize the airport.
1:13:49>> That's right.
1:13:51>> And then there was an immediate
1:13:52counterattack where Ukrainian National
1:13:55Guard units and special forces
1:13:56>> Yes. Our National Guard.
1:13:59>> You shelled and destroyed the runway
1:14:00yourself. You destroyed your own runway
1:14:03while air defense units forces shot down
1:14:05several Russian transport helicopters.
1:14:07And from what I understood, that you
1:14:09know, you took the air
1:14:11port back. They fought You took it back.
1:14:13They fought You took it back.
1:14:14>> right. Hostomel changed hands back and
1:14:17forth. That's how it was.
1:14:19>> And if they had been able to seize that
1:14:21airport,
1:14:22how would that have changed the
1:14:24situation with Kiev, do you think?
1:14:27>> likely They could have
1:14:30They could have taken most of the
1:14:31capital.
1:14:33They could have
1:14:34broken through and captured it. That's
1:14:36true.
1:14:38That's true. That was an utterly heroic
1:14:41uh battle.
1:14:43>> It When you hear these stories, you
1:14:45realize that
1:14:47the future of Ukraine
1:14:49comes down to both heroism
1:14:52but also
1:14:53several small battles. Some big battles,
1:14:56but also several small moments.
1:14:59When you reflect on
1:15:00that that month, that moment, what are
1:15:03Is there any other sort of small moments
1:15:04that you think really define the future
1:15:05of Ukraine in this regard?
1:15:08>> Well, uh just so you know,
1:15:11um today
1:15:13um places like Hostomel, then further up
1:15:16Moschun, and several small towns around
1:15:20Kyiv. There was a desperate battle for
1:15:22every single one of those towns.
1:15:25Why the National Guard? Because back
1:15:27then uh the full army couldn't reach it
1:15:30yet.
1:15:31But the National Guard are
1:15:33uh internal troops.
1:15:35So they were there and brought in army
1:15:39units and so on. But nonetheless, that's
1:15:42why it was an utterly heroic battle.
1:15:44There was Bucha.
1:15:46You know, right, that they occupied it.
1:15:47It was terrible. It was a genocide
1:15:50recognized by everyone. They buried
1:15:51hundreds of people.
1:15:53They tortured people. I mean, tortured
1:15:55them. And hundreds of people were in a
1:15:57mass grave. They found a grave. There
1:15:59were, I believe, around 500 people.
1:16:02Half a thousand people in a grave like
1:16:04that. Just imagine. Hands tied,
1:16:07tortured,
1:16:08and then buried in in in pits.
1:16:11That's what was happening. People
1:16:16seeing all this.
1:16:19Uh
1:16:20this looked nothing like a war. It
1:16:22looked It was definitely pure looting
1:16:24when they occupied those towns on the
1:16:27way to Kyiv and around Kyiv. They de-
1:16:30collect They just went into homes, just
1:16:32killed,
1:16:34took microwaves,
1:16:36some refrigerators,
1:16:38TVs.
1:16:40They acted like just an
1:16:43Well, I can't even describe it. Well,
1:16:45they're just scavengers.
1:16:47And all these people, they tied their
1:16:49hands,
1:16:51tortured them.
1:16:54There was sexual violence, everything.
1:16:57And they buried people right in the
1:16:58yard, dumped people, and so on. When we
1:17:02liberated those towns,
1:17:06there emerged this, you know, this kind
1:17:08of
1:17:10such hatred for the Russians.
1:17:13Right at that moment.
1:17:14Not even at the moment when they started
1:17:16the full-scale war.
1:17:19Back then, every Nobody understood what
1:17:21it really was yet.
1:17:23People understood what this war was and
1:17:25what Putin did personally when we found
1:17:28those mass graves of tortured adults,
1:17:31children.
1:17:33I mean, they didn't just kill them. They
1:17:35tortured and killed them.
1:17:37>> Children?
1:17:38>> That's right.
1:17:40That's right.
1:17:42And then you realize that, I mean,
1:17:44just imagine what they went through.
1:17:47Well, there's no no You can't even
1:17:51compare what all these people lived
1:17:52through. Why Bucha is so horrifying and
1:17:55why the Russians immediately started
1:17:57saying, "It's a staged performance. We
1:17:59brought in journalists." The entire
1:18:01world press was there. They saw the
1:18:03bodies. I
1:18:05deliberately, when we liberated Bucha, I
1:18:07went there. Once I saw it,
1:18:10I said, "Bring every journalist here.
1:18:14Don't touch anything. Just bring the
1:18:15journalists. The whole world simply has
1:18:18to see this." And they brought the
1:18:20journalists. People were literally lying
1:18:22on the pavement. Dead bodies lying
1:18:24everywhere. Kids, adults, elderly
1:18:27people, and so on. Witnesses who had
1:18:30stayed behind in Bucha, an old man, an
1:18:33elderly man. This was a very famous
1:18:35story there. It's one of those moments
1:18:37you're talking about. This elderly man,
1:18:39he survived
1:18:41the occupation of this town, the town of
1:18:44Bucha, during World War II.
1:18:48And he said the fascists never
1:18:51treated people like that.
1:18:53Yes, they were enemies. Yes, occupiers.
1:18:57But they didn't torture people like
1:18:58that.
1:19:01This is absolute reality. And this there
1:19:03are testimonies, there's evidence, there
1:19:06are criminal cases.
1:19:08And how after all this we it's just that
1:19:10it was already a long time ago, in the
1:19:11first year of the full-scale war. And
1:19:13sometimes people need to be reminded.
1:19:15When you see a mass today finding a
1:19:18grave in the US or in Britain, God
1:19:21forbid,
1:19:22with 500 tortured people, adults, kids,
1:19:26dogs,
1:19:28animals shot dead. I mean, they held
1:19:30hunting sprees there.
1:19:32From military vehicles, people were
1:19:34running, they were shooting, just
1:19:35hunting, playing games.
1:19:38The whole time they were blockading Kyiv
1:19:40right up until the moment we liberated
1:19:42it, they
1:19:43there were people in those villages and
1:19:45so on.
1:19:46They literally just played with people.
1:19:49Like slavery. Imagine that. So, how how
1:19:52after this
1:19:54can you listen to Putin and how how
1:19:56after this can you forgive?
1:19:58And that's why when President Trump says
1:20:00we need to find a compromise, and
1:20:02believe me, this
1:20:03we live with this.
1:20:06A ceasefire.
1:20:08And sitting down at the negotiating
1:20:10table, there's a huge compromise.
1:20:12It is a huge compromise. Nobody can step
1:20:15into the shoes of all these people and
1:20:17their relatives whose children were
1:20:19tortured. Nobody Nobody wants to forgive
1:20:22them for anything.
1:20:23Nobody wants to forgive anything. And
1:20:25you can't force people to forgive. How
1:20:27can you force them
1:20:29when their child was tortured?
1:20:32How do you forgive?
1:20:33Well, it's impossible, but that's why we
1:20:35say a ceasefire is the only step
1:20:39because people have such hatred, it it's
1:20:42not going away. It that hatred isn't
1:20:45going anywhere.
1:20:47It takes time and justice.
1:20:50And that's why it's a huge compromise.
1:20:51I've always really wanted I I've tried
1:20:54many times to tell the president of the
1:20:56United States, just understand us. This
1:20:58is a huge compromise.
1:21:00Just to hold the lines where we are.
1:21:03That to stop Well, look, that's what it
1:21:05feels like.
1:21:09>> What was your hardest day
1:21:12through the last 4 years?
1:21:14What's the day that
1:21:16you know,
1:21:17will live long in your your brain, your
1:21:19mind, your memory?
1:21:21>> Bucha, what I just told you, that was a
1:21:24terrible day because I stood there. I
1:21:26had never seen people's bodies just
1:21:28scattered on the on the street in my
1:21:30entire life. I had simply seen anything
1:21:32like that in my life.
1:21:34Uh
1:21:34and after that, everything changed
1:21:36completely. And once again, everything
1:21:38changed in life.
1:21:39>> Everything has changed.
1:21:40>> Uh absolutely.
1:21:42>> In what way?
1:21:46>> Well,
1:21:52you want
1:21:54you want
1:21:58revenge.
1:22:02Uh I had never had it
1:22:06where I couldn't
1:22:08forgive someone. And by and large, I
1:22:10think people make mistakes. This This is
1:22:13about something else, evil like that,
1:22:15you know? A devil like that.
1:22:17Just came in like that, did that to
1:22:19people.
1:22:21Like like chopped meat.
1:22:24Butchered them, you know?
1:22:26I mean, that's what it looks like.
1:22:28And you just can't fathom how that's
1:22:30possible and you want to find these
1:22:32people
1:22:33who aren't human. You want to find them
1:22:35and you want to
1:22:37you just
1:22:38want to you want to kill them.
1:22:41I mean, I had never wanted to kill a
1:22:43single human being. I had never felt
1:22:45anything like that.
1:22:48Pure revenge.
1:22:51With time you can't forget that and in
1:22:54moments like this and our conversation
1:22:57brings back moments like that.
1:22:59And you have to be president and you
1:23:01have to
1:23:03calm down and be more how to put it
1:23:09uh diplomatic. Yeah, well, you can't
1:23:13forgive just forgive everything like
1:23:15that and say
1:23:17well
1:23:18sorry, that's putting
1:23:20a powerful country. Let's just forget
1:23:23everything. Let's forgive everything.
1:23:26And somehow well, we'll buy and sell gas
1:23:28or diesel or whatever.
1:23:31That's difficult. You understand?
1:23:34>> Do you ever worry about how this
1:23:37experience has changed you?
1:23:41Because you have been irreversibly
1:23:43changed by this. I can tell both from
1:23:45meeting you and looking at how you used
1:23:46to be three, four, five years ago.
1:23:49You've been irreversibly changed.
1:23:51And you're a father and you're a husband
1:23:53and
1:23:54at some point this war will be over, you
1:23:56know, God
1:23:57God willing.
1:23:59But do you do do you ever think about
1:24:00how
1:24:01you're irreversibly changed?
1:24:06>> You can't bring it back. It's just it's
1:24:10two different worlds.
1:24:12A reevaluation of values. My only dream
1:24:14is
1:24:16to end this war.
1:24:18I desperately want justice.
1:24:20I just really want I know so many people
1:24:23had their hearts ripped out
1:24:25and there won't be a new heart. You have
1:24:27to give them at least something. So,
1:24:29some trial, some justice, you know, at
1:24:31least some moral solace is an absolute
1:24:33must. You can't just leave it because
1:24:36that hole inside them, it won't heal.
1:24:40And there will be revenge like I told
1:24:42you. And
1:24:44and the revenge of so many people who
1:24:47lost everything, that naturally brings
1:24:50uh
1:24:51risks
1:24:52of some kind of ongoing military or
1:24:55combat actions, you know, and so forth.
1:24:58So, it's not that simple. It doesn't
1:24:59just end like that. Why do we talk talk
1:25:02about a just peace? Some people ask,
1:25:04"Well, what is a just peace?" Well,
1:25:06somehow there has to be justice.
1:25:09The guilty must be punished.
1:25:12At the very least you have to show a
1:25:14path that it will happen. Maybe not
1:25:16right now, but that it will happen. It's
1:25:17just totally impossible to simply
1:25:20forgive. And and that
1:25:22and you realize that
1:25:24you want
1:25:26to be with your kids, with your wife.
1:25:28Generally, you just want
1:25:30to end the war and get a little bit
1:25:33of a life.
1:25:34>> But if if I asked Elena, your wife,
1:25:37how you have changed
1:25:40on a human level because of all of this,
1:25:42what might she say to me?
1:25:45>> I don't know. She'd definitely say I've
1:25:47changed a lot.
1:25:48Yeah, she tells me sometimes.
1:25:52Yeah, well.
1:25:53>> What is she saying?
1:25:58>> Well, you know how it is.
1:26:02She focuses on different things, you
1:26:04know,
1:26:05different values.
1:26:08You just want somehow.
1:26:13You want to hold
1:26:15on to something. The
1:26:17the people close to you.
1:26:19You really crave that warmth.
1:26:22You want to break through this
1:26:29In a war you fight and you're lonely,
1:26:33you know?
1:26:34In life before this war you're
1:26:36definitely not lonely because you have
1:26:38friends, company, business, then maybe
1:26:41politics.
1:26:43But you're not lonely.
1:26:45I
1:26:46I run a country and and this is about
1:26:49something completely different right
1:26:51now. But when you
1:26:53hug your family, it's just like that.
1:26:56Well, it means
1:26:58Well, it means there are people who love
1:26:59you. It matters.
1:27:01>> Do you miss them?
1:27:03>> Very much.
1:27:04Very much.
1:27:06Pointless sentimentality.
1:27:09Maybe that's it.
1:27:13Stop.
1:27:16That's how it is.
1:27:17Years have passed, you know?
1:27:20Between this and this,
1:27:24years, years, years. I really I miss
1:27:28them constantly.
1:27:30And it feels like that even when they're
1:27:31right next to me.
1:27:33It's just this habit.
1:27:35This habit of
1:27:37doing work and
1:27:39focusing exclusively on work.
1:27:42Even
1:27:44when they're near I miss them sometimes.
1:27:46Meaning
1:27:48Well,
1:27:50again, I don't like to complain and I'm
1:27:52not complaining. I chose my own path
1:27:56and of course I didn't choose the war,
1:28:00but I chose this path. Well,
1:28:03this war.
1:28:05It fell on my
1:28:07my lifetime and on the lifetime of our
1:28:08generation.
1:28:10>> Yeah.
1:28:12>> Beautiful wife and beautiful kids.
1:28:16>> And your daughter is um
1:28:18>> Yeah.
1:28:18>> Your daughter, she's not a child
1:28:19anymore.
1:28:20>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, that.
1:28:22>> They've all grown up in the last four
1:28:24four years. She's a young lady now.
1:28:28>> Very much so. She really has, yeah,
1:28:30grown up. Yes, and all
1:28:32the children of Ukraine, and it's true.
1:28:34I've said this, the children of Ukraine
1:28:36grew up during the war. Totally true.
1:28:39They are all so grown up, and it's so
1:28:41sad that
1:28:42childhood pa- pa- passed during a war.
1:28:45Well, but nonetheless, we believe in
1:28:47peace. Peace will prevail anyway, 100%.
1:28:51And the dog my daughter and I
1:28:54are really great friends. She's grown up
1:28:56now.
1:28:57And
1:28:59well, her English is better.
1:29:02>> Do you get to spend a lot of time with
1:29:04the kids?
1:29:05>> When there's time, I I try to be with
1:29:08them, to call. We talk. These days,
1:29:11there are plenty of options. We talk
1:29:13online. We talk in different ways.
1:29:14That's how it is.
1:29:15>> Is it Is it possible You know, I I
1:29:17gosh.
1:29:19I um I've spent since I was 18 years old
1:29:21been running businesses, and you know,
1:29:23running a startup I you know, I thought
1:29:24you know, it was a was was a challenge,
1:29:26but it is incomparable from You know,
1:29:29and I say this because I think about how
1:29:31that pulled me away from the people in
1:29:33my life, my relationships, being so
1:29:35obsessed with business.
1:29:36But it's just totally incomparable to
1:29:39think about what that must be like to
1:29:40try and maintain those important
1:29:43relationships, especially with children,
1:29:45when your country is being invaded, and
1:29:48you are the leader of that country. I I
1:29:50I almost can't fathom how you can find
1:29:53moments of presence with them, like true
1:29:57presence. I understand how one might be
1:29:59able to like fake presence for a short
1:30:00period of time, but true
1:30:02sort of intellectual presence I
1:30:04Is it Is it possible?
1:30:09Differently, but differently now,
1:30:11absolutely. But yes, that presence
1:30:13matters. And those moments you
1:30:15mentioned, you've been in business since
1:30:17you were 18, and some I imagine of your
1:30:20relationships become secondary probably,
1:30:23while business always consumes your
1:30:25whole life. Well, at least it was that
1:30:26way for me. And this reevaluation from
1:30:29this war and these images and these
1:30:31horrific moments definitely shows me
1:30:34that business is secondary.
1:30:37Everything is secondary.
1:30:38These people right here.
1:30:41That's
1:30:43what matters most.
1:30:45Now, that you can't get back.
1:30:48These years slip away, and in these
1:30:50intense moments
1:30:52you remember
1:30:55these people.
1:30:56It's important.
1:31:00>> And your wife, Elena, has been
1:31:02your rock through it all, I've heard you
1:31:03say.
1:31:04She's been your stability throughout all
1:31:05of this.
1:31:07All of these crazy, crazy times.
1:31:10>> Well, we support each other.
1:31:13That's true.
1:31:14We
1:31:15um
1:31:16we
1:31:17I think that I have a very
1:31:19um
1:31:21smart
1:31:22uh wife, and she's
1:31:25so
1:31:27real. We have real We have real
1:31:29feelings.
1:31:31We We have love and respect and respect.
1:31:35I think that's very important.
1:31:37Um to respect each other. And you know,
1:31:40how should I put it? People should find
1:31:41each other interesting.
1:31:43I think that's the most important thing.
1:31:45People need to find each other
1:31:46interesting.
1:31:48Yeah, and we find each other very
1:31:49interesting. We feel good.
1:31:51We feel very good.
1:31:53>> The other um very important woman in
1:31:54your life your parents are still here.
1:31:57But your mother
1:31:58>> Yeah.
1:31:58>> I heard she calls you uh almost every
1:32:00day.
1:32:02Still.
1:32:02>> Every single day.
1:32:03>> Every day.
1:32:04Every single day.
1:32:06>> Every day.
1:32:07>> Really? Where does she She's living in
1:32:08Ukraine still? When your mother calls
1:32:10you, what does she say every day?
1:32:12What is she asking you?
1:32:13>> Her first question is did did
1:32:16did you actually pick up?
1:32:20She's already like that because I so
1:32:23often she I look God, 12 missed calls.
1:32:25Mom, I'm working. I tell her 12 calls.
1:32:28How can you call someone so many times?
1:32:30And she keeps dialing. She'll call you
1:32:33all day long until I pick up.
1:32:35So, we make sure to speak once a day.
1:32:40She asks how I'm feeling.
1:32:43>> And is she worried about you?
1:32:44>> Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. How are you?
1:32:47How are you feeling?
1:32:50How are the kids?
1:32:52Tell me.
1:32:54Right?
1:32:55When is um Putin going to
1:32:58uh end the war?
1:33:01And I say, "Mom, we're doing everything
1:33:02we can."
1:33:06>> And as things stand at the moment, for
1:33:08the people don't understand what's
1:33:10actually going on in the ground on the
1:33:11ground in Ukraine, where the Russian
1:33:13troops currently are, what life is like
1:33:16on a day-to-day basis if you're a
1:33:17Ukrainian, can you explain to me which
1:33:20parts of Ukraine are currently occupied
1:33:22and generally what life is like for
1:33:24Ukrainians at the moment?
1:33:28>> Um
1:33:29occupied
1:33:32Um occupied was
1:33:35Crimea.
1:33:36Then they took the Azov.
1:33:39That's an inland uh sea of ours. And and
1:33:44the that's our sea. They made it Yes,
1:33:47they turned it into an inland sea.
1:33:49They took Mariupol. They took Mariupol.
1:33:54They took Berdiansk. All of the Azov.
1:33:58Kerch is a city on the Black Sea. They
1:34:01made it so we can't get out. Next day,
1:34:05Oleshky is where right now
1:34:07uh
1:34:08people and children are trapped without
1:34:11food, without anything. They won't let
1:34:12them through. Right now we are working
1:34:14to unblock it. There were
1:34:162,500 people
1:34:18left. Kherson, we fought to take back
1:34:21the major city of Kherson.
1:34:23We reclaimed it.
1:34:24Uh Kherson is split by the Dnipro River.
1:34:28Our people live on one bank, the enemy
1:34:30is on the other bank, and that's why
1:34:31they shell Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
1:34:34She's also under
1:34:35under our control. So they took
1:34:38Crimea, Donetsk region, uh Luhansk
1:34:42region.
1:34:43They couldn't take like uh you can call
1:34:46it Kyiv, Kherson. This part This part is
1:34:50ours. So upside the map is just upside
1:34:52down.
1:34:55Uh
1:34:56from Kharkiv here. This is what they
1:34:58call Luhansk Oblast.
1:35:01Right here. This is our Kramatorsk like
1:35:04this right here. They took Yenakiieve,
1:35:06they took Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast.
1:35:09Right here. Zaporizhzhia is ours. So
1:35:11basically people can see that all of
1:35:13this
1:35:14is
1:35:15all of this is
1:35:19This is
1:35:20roughly
1:35:22roughly, sorry, I'm not very good at
1:35:23drawing. Uh
1:35:25all of this is all of this is roughly 18
1:35:3118 to 19
1:35:33percent
1:35:35of our territory.
1:35:37That's roughly roughly it.
1:35:39Roughly. Because
1:35:41their maps are wanting to be honest,
1:35:43they sell
1:35:44uh one story to their people. People we
1:35:47have different maps, we believe we're
1:35:49right. Well, naturally they have their
1:35:50own
1:35:51their own approach
1:35:53to talking with society and presenting
1:35:55information, but roughly
1:35:57that's what it is.
1:35:59>> And they're attacking
1:36:01via missiles and drones other parts of
1:36:03Ukraine constantly, right?
1:36:05>> Completely. Yes. Yes. See, they're
1:36:08focused on
1:36:10Well, honestly, you could point
1:36:11everywhere here. They've already started
1:36:13today.
1:36:14Right here, they killed people in Lutsk.
1:36:16That's the western part of our country.
1:36:18Right here, a missile struck. And
1:36:20they're hitting Kyiv.
1:36:22Uh Pryluky, right here. We went with the
1:36:25British secretary, saw 23 people killed.
1:36:28Zhytomyr is under constant shelling.
1:36:32Uh
1:36:33Well, Rivne has fewer strikes.
1:36:36Uh Lviv
1:36:38this
1:36:39part
1:36:40fewer strikes here.
1:36:41This part to be honest, all of this part
1:36:44is
1:36:45far away
1:36:47from uh the line of occupation, from the
1:36:50contact line, and from the Russian
1:36:52Federation. So, obviously, the distance
1:36:54is great, which is why there are no
1:36:56massive strikes there.
1:36:59Yes. Well, that's roughly it.
1:37:01>> What are they trying to accomplish?
1:37:04>> Odessa is being shelled.
1:37:06Dniprolive. What do they want to pull
1:37:09out of out of the east of our country so
1:37:12that Putin And the east is Here's what
1:37:14he wants.
1:37:16He wants basically he wants to take the
1:37:18city of Zaporizhzhia, but he can't.
1:37:20That's a target for him. Zaporizhzhia
1:37:22and Kherson and Mykolaiv all targets,
1:37:25but he doesn't say that.
1:37:27He doesn't say it, but
1:37:29after all, we liberated those cities. We
1:37:32liberated Kherson. And
1:37:34>> But have you heard directly from them
1:37:36>> Right. So,
1:37:37>> as to what their demands are, what they
1:37:38say that they want to to stop launching
1:37:41missiles?
1:37:42>> Yes. They basically say right here, this
1:37:45entire piece
1:37:48>> They want to take pretty much the the
1:37:50east of Ukraine.
1:37:51>> Yes, the east. That means they want uh
1:37:53Sloviansk. Well, these are key.
1:37:55Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, uh Druzhkivka.
1:37:58And that leads right out into the
1:38:00Dnipropetrovsk region
1:38:02into
1:38:03uh Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk. These are
1:38:05the most Kryvyi Rih is my hometown.
1:38:08Nikopol is an industrial hub,
1:38:11an engineering hub, a manufacturing hub.
1:38:14It's the economy
1:38:15uh of our country. And so, it's very
1:38:18dangerous because if you surrender this
1:38:20part to them, and this is This is
1:38:23heavily reinforced defense of our nation
1:38:26right here.
1:38:31Like this.
1:38:32And if we hand these cities of ours over
1:38:34to them,
1:38:36then the risk is huge. If he wants to
1:38:39keep going, he could seize
1:38:42a huge
1:38:44number
1:38:45of our cities if he pushes further. And
1:38:47the risk is real. Nobody guarantees
1:38:49anything, you understand? Everyone talks
1:38:51about security guarantees.
1:38:53And we're open. We're completely open to
1:38:54that. We say, "Well, okay, security
1:38:56guarantees. Let's do NATO."
1:38:59Well, NATO, you know, the Russians.
1:39:00Well, again, they keep sending signals
1:39:02to the Russians because you have to give
1:39:05security guarantees. On top of that,
1:39:07like I told you, the biggest compromise
1:39:09with so many dead, the biggest
1:39:11compromise we're already making is a
1:39:13ceasefire. Let's just stop this war. But
1:39:15they want us to pull out even further.
1:39:17And if we pull out, where are the
1:39:18security guarantees?
1:39:20Aside from the fact that it's unfair.
1:39:24>> You know, you talked about the barbaric
1:39:26nature of how they've treated
1:39:29Ukrainians. Are you at all concerned
1:39:31that they might escalate using more
1:39:33horrific weapons like nuclear weapons at
1:39:35any point?
1:39:37Has that ever crossed your mind?
1:39:41>> Well, it crosses everyone's mind after
1:39:43what they've done that they might do
1:39:45something worse. But as of today,
1:39:49well, I don't think they'll take the
1:39:51risk of using nuclear weapons because
1:39:54then I think
1:39:56they won't have definitely. I'm sure
1:39:58they won't have any allies left,
1:40:00including countries like America, China.
1:40:04Well, excuse me, but that that's far too
1:40:06dangerous even for nuclear powers. That
1:40:09means if one country can do it, then if
1:40:11there's a conflict somewhere else on
1:40:13another continent, in another theater, I
1:40:16don't know, the Middle East, whatever.
1:40:17That means if a nuclear weapon is used
1:40:19once, it might be used a second and a
1:40:21third time. So, I don't think Putin will
1:40:23risk uh nuclear weapons. But then again,
1:40:27we're dealing with
1:40:29Look, we're dealing
1:40:32with a man and with a system
1:40:35that
1:40:36until the end of his days
1:40:39will hold on to him, and he to it.
1:40:42Because only when
1:40:44his life ends will he leave the Kremlin
1:40:47and hand over well, physically hand
1:40:49over, naturally transfer power.
1:40:52I'm more than certain of that.
1:40:55>> Regarding the the current situation this
1:40:58week with with Trump, with Russia, and
1:41:00this deal that's been done. From my
1:41:02understanding, because there's an energy
1:41:04crisis globally,
1:41:06Trump has now done a deal with Russia
1:41:09for diesel. He then asked you not to
1:41:12attack any energy infrastructure in
1:41:14Russia.
1:41:15>> No.
1:41:15>> Um there's a there's a video that I
1:41:17actually have here of him describing
1:41:18this, which um
1:41:20a lot of people have have now seen. I'll
1:41:22play it.
1:41:23>> Well, I look at it differently. Zelensky
1:41:25could have settled this war many times.
1:41:27He chooses not to.
1:41:29Very difficult. Uh it's a war that
1:41:31should have never been started. If our
1:41:33president of the election weren't
1:41:35rigged, I would have been president, and
1:41:37that war would have never started. We
1:41:39said you could do whatever you want to
1:41:40Russia, don't hit the refineries because
1:41:42that's a world problem that's caused.
1:41:45And he wants to make problems for the
1:41:47world. He wants to make problems for our
1:41:49farmers, our ranches with uh diesel
1:41:52fuel. It's because Russia supplies
1:41:54a large portion of the diesel fuel
1:41:56throughout the world.
1:41:58And we told him, "Do whatever you want,
1:42:00but don't hit the diesel fuel cuz
1:42:02there's a big problem, big shortage."
1:42:04And what does he do? He goes and hits
1:42:05the diesel fuel. "Do what you want,
1:42:07don't hit refineries." Plenty of target.
1:42:10And he went out and he hit And he's not
1:42:11going to affect our farmers, and he's
1:42:14not going to affect our ranches, and
1:42:16he's not going to affect the rest of the
1:42:17world. So, uh we've He's better than
1:42:20well stop.
1:42:22>> And in that, he says that he thinks the
1:42:24Ukraine needs a new president.
1:42:26>> No. Um
1:42:27first of all, uh diesel exports have no
1:42:31impact. The volume of diesel exports is
1:42:34so negligible
1:42:36uh from Russia that it has zero impact
1:42:39on prices in the United States of
1:42:40America.
1:42:42That is totally false information.
1:42:45That's first. Second,
1:42:47it makes no sense for us to strike
1:42:48Russia's energy infrastructure. We
1:42:50retaliate cuz cuz they strike our energy
1:42:52infrastructure.
1:42:53We've spoken a lot about this.
1:42:55The Russians hit our energy grid, our
1:42:57people live without power.
1:42:59We don't have oil, gas, diesel, and so
1:43:03on. That hurts them. What hurts us is
1:43:05electricity. They hit our electricity.
1:43:08We strike back at their diesel. They
1:43:11make money on diesel and spend it on
1:43:13weapons. My offer,
1:43:15excuse me, but I don't need this. I've
1:43:18always told President Trump, "Broker an
1:43:20energy ceasefire. At least on energy. At
1:43:23least let's give people light." And good
1:43:26for the Russians, they'll sell their oil
1:43:28if they want to. If that's what you
1:43:30need.
1:43:31But President Trump can't reach an
1:43:32agreement with Putin on this.
1:43:34Putin refuses him an energy ceasefire.
1:43:38And so the president decided to pin this
1:43:40problem not on Putin, but on me.
1:43:43Explaining to his people that because of
1:43:45this
1:43:46diesel prices in America are going up.
1:43:49That is completely untrue.
1:43:51And I don't understand. I have a good
1:43:53relationship with him, with Trump. And I
1:43:55think it's wrong and unacceptable that
1:43:58he pins Russia's aggression and Russia's
1:44:01killings on me. He is shifting the
1:44:03context, and that's not fair. And that's
1:44:06why I honestly said, "That's unfair.
1:44:08Ceasefire." He says,
1:44:10"It's not what they can't work it out."
1:44:11Well, if you can't work it out, but you
1:44:13need diesel. Though again, I think this
1:44:16is just deflecting
1:44:18uh the focus away from Iran, from what's
1:44:20happening in the Middle East. The entire
1:44:21volume is blocked over there. That's
1:44:23exactly where nothing is working out.
1:44:26Energy The Strait of Hormuz is blocked.
1:44:29That's the root of the problem. But
1:44:31everything gets shifted onto us, and I'm
1:44:34made the target as the leader of our
1:44:36country. So I said, "Okay.
1:44:38You can't force Putin
1:44:41to stop the war and make an energy
1:44:43truce. Give me
1:44:45air defense missiles.
1:44:48I won't fire at anyone. I'll protect our
1:44:50energy sector. So where am I being
1:44:53unfair? In what way? I asked him, "Give
1:44:55us missiles, not for free." Again,
1:44:58not even for free. Europeans are funding
1:45:01this, funding all of it. There's an
1:45:03agreement.
1:45:05But he But they won't give them to us.
1:45:06They say we can't. They give and have
1:45:09given everything to the Middle East.
1:45:12Look, it's just kind of Well,
1:45:14it's just like like Well, it's unfair.
1:45:18To the Middle East uh
1:45:20Patriot missiles
1:45:22uh with Putin, a diesel deal.
1:45:24I'm expected not to respond to an energy
1:45:27attack on
1:45:28inside Ukraine. And diesel prices are
1:45:30rising in America cuz of
1:45:33it's unfair. And you need a different
1:45:34president.
1:45:36Well,
1:45:37diesel prices, I guarantee you 100%
1:45:40diesel prices don't depend on the volume
1:45:43that Russia sells.
1:45:46They just don't.
1:45:48>> And about 76% of Ukrainians say they
1:45:50wouldn't want an election now according
1:45:51to some recent surveys as well. My last
1:45:53question to you, Mr. President, is
1:45:57is there a realistic path to the end of
1:45:59this war?
1:46:00And what does that look like?
1:46:03A realistic path.
1:46:05>> Trump can
1:46:07bring Putin
1:46:09to the negotiating table very easily.
1:46:14Because he needs to the way he talks
1:46:16about me,
1:46:18President Trump, he needs to adopt that
1:46:20kind of rhetoric about Putin.
1:46:23>> Why do you think he's not
1:46:24>> I don't know. Honestly, I don't know.
1:46:27He's got sanctions on his desk. It
1:46:28wasn't him voting. Congress voted for
1:46:30strong sanctions. He can do it.
1:46:33He could I don't know why. Maybe they
1:46:35have a special relationship. Maybe
1:46:37something else. I can't tell you. I
1:46:39don't know everything.
1:46:41I can only guess.
1:46:42So some economic deals and so on. An old
1:46:46rela- I don't know. I don't want to
1:46:48>> Well, the midterms are coming up and I
1:46:49think he might be a little bit concerned
1:46:51about energy prices in America.
1:46:53More so than maybe Ukraine.
1:46:59>> Yeah, well, uh look,
1:47:02diesel prices, I give you a 100%
1:47:06diesel prices don't depend on the volume
1:47:10Russia sells. They don't.
1:47:12Americans export energy resources.
1:47:17Americans energy exports aren't banned
1:47:20for Americans.
1:47:21American companies export.
1:47:24It's a
1:47:25Why do American companies export energy?
1:47:28Well, because how can the president of
1:47:29the United States ban private sector
1:47:32exports?
1:47:33Well, I don't think he can. And why
1:47:35would he? It sells and money comes in.
1:47:38Well, just Well,
1:47:40you know how.
1:47:45Lifetime,
1:47:47you know,
1:47:48all secrets, all mysteries always come
1:47:52to light.
1:47:53It just takes time.
1:47:55Time is definitely on the side of those
1:47:58who
1:48:00are open and ready for honest dialogue
1:48:03and fight. Yes, which means time will be
1:48:06on our side.
1:48:08>> What are your last words?
1:48:10To our audience, you know.
1:48:11>> I hope that it's not last words.
1:48:14>> Last words for today.
1:48:18Last words today, you know, half of our
1:48:20audience are in America.
1:48:21>> I wish
1:48:23America, which finds itself
1:48:26in a very tough situation, I believe
1:48:29because the world has gone crazy. What's
1:48:33happening with the Russians, with Iran,
1:48:36the fact that people want blood, people
1:48:39want wars. I wish America would stay a
1:48:43great nation, be strong, be peaceful,
1:48:46have the chance
1:48:48someone works, someone wants to be home
1:48:52with the kids, pray, have a family, a
1:48:56family dinner. I wish America
1:48:59tranquility, peace, and we're grateful
1:49:02for everything America has done for
1:49:04Ukraine. We won't forget this.
1:49:10>> President, thank you so much.
1:49:12Thank you so much.
1:49:12>> much.
1:49:13>> I know you've had a really rough week
1:49:14and it's been very tough, so I really
1:49:15appreciate you taking the time. I've had
1:49:17everything going on with Starlink and
1:49:18the internet and
1:49:19all the challenges. So
1:49:21>> Normal.
1:49:22>> Yeah.
1:49:23>> Thank you so much.
1:49:23>> And we really do wish you the best. We
1:49:25really wish you the best, okay?
1:49:26>> Yes, and I was happy to hear to see you
1:49:29and to have a dialogue. We had good
1:49:31dialogue, I think. I think we spoke very
1:49:34good. So thank you so much.
1:49:36>> Thank you so much.
1:49:36>> All the best.
1:49:37>> best. Thank you so much.
1:49:38>> Thank you so much.
1:49:38>> Thank you.
1:49:38>> Thank you so much.
1:49:40>> YouTube have this new crazy algorithm
1:49:41where they know exactly what video you
1:49:43would like to watch next based on AI and
1:49:46all of your viewing behavior. And the
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1:49:50perfect video for you. It's different
1:49:52for everybody looking right now. Check
1:49:54this video out. I bet you you might love
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