Ukraine War: For Russia’s number one goal, a subway station is perhaps the only safe place to meet the world’s media | World News

For Russia’s number one target, this is probably the only safe place to meet the world’s media.

Ukraine’s president appeared first, stepping down a moving escalator to the platform of a metro station, deep below the streets of Kyiv, flanked by soldiers.

In front of him were hundreds of journalists, sitting, standing, jostling for a good angle.

Sitting in a chair and interrupted by the eerie train passing by, Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned for two hours about Russia’s war, the prospect of peace talks with Vladimir Putin, and the need for the West to continue to supply supply arms or risk Ukraine being destroyed.

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He also revealed – possibly to the surprise of the White House security team – that the US secretary of state and the secretary of defense will visit the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, the highest-level trip by members of the administration. of Joe Biden since the invasion.

Mr Zelenskyy added that the US president himself is likely to come as well as security conditions permit, although he warned all foreign leaders to visit Kyiv only if they have something to help. aid in the war effort.

“We’re not a country for tragic selfies,” he said, emphasizing.

Speaking almost two months since Russian missiles began hitting Ukrainian cities and Russian tanks rolled across the country’s borders, Mr. Zelenskyy made no attempt to hide his anger and disdain at the horror. inflicted on his own people.

He highlighted an attack on the port city of Odesa on Saturday, saying a three-month-old baby was among eight people killed in the cruise missile attacks.

“The war started when this baby was a month old,” the president said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“Can you imagine what’s going on? They’re just b*******…I don’t have any other words for it, just b*******.”

However, he said he still needed to be ready to speak directly with Mr Putin if there was a chance to find a diplomatic path to end the bloodshed.

“Regarding the meeting with the President of Russia, I didn’t say ‘I want to’ – I have to meet the President if we plan to solve this through diplomacy,” he said, in response to a question from Sky News.

However, he also separately warned that there would be no negotiations if Russia destroyed Ukrainian warplanes in a stronghold of resistance in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Read more: Ukraine war: Dozens of Russian military units redeployed from Mariupol

The same is true if Russia tries to hold fake referendums in territories captured by its forces to give the impression that the people there want to be part of Russia, not Ukraine. This is a tactic used by Moscow in 2014 when it annexed Crimea.

“If our people are killed in Mariupol, if they announce a referendum – a referendum – in the new pseudo-republics, then Ukraine will not participate in any of it,” Zelenskyy said. negotiation process”.

He thanked his Western allies, the US and the UK, for arming his armies, and said he believed this would continue, but was blunt about what would happen if the flow of weapons The West is exhausted.

“Surname [western allies] no replacement. We will not give them this chance. We have no choice but to protect our land and get it back. What other choices would be? It will be that we have no state, no people, this will just be a burned land,” he told Sky News.

The Ukrainian leader has had some criticism of the United Nations chief over the timing of his planned trip to the region next week to try to build a ground for peace talks.

Antonio Guterres will meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday before traveling to Kyiv for talks with Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president said he should have planned his trip the other way around.

“First of all, it makes perfect sense to see… the consequences of the wars and with that experience for the Russian Federation,” he said.

Regarding his own safety, Mr. Zelenskyy said he was not particularly worried but those around him were.

“I wasn’t very scared – my bodyguards were scared, I’ll tell you straight, and my family was absolutely terrified, to be honest.”

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He chose – on the advice of Western intelligence agencies – to stay in Kyiv when the fighting began in the early hours of 24 February, from which he gave nightly addresses to his country, instead of retreating to the West.

After the marathon media session ended, the president said goodbye and stood up. His security guards immediately moved in, providing a ring of protection, as he headed back to the escalator and away.