Ukraine’s Zelensky predicts Putin moves if Russia wins battle for key city, invites China’s Xi
- Ukrainian president predicted Russia’s leader would set out to ‘sell’ a victory in Bakhmut to the international community
- Zelensky also extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the country: ‘We are ready to see him here’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that unless his nation wins a drawn-out battle in a key eastern city, Russia could begin building international support for a deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises. He also invited the leader of China, long aligned with Russia, to visit.
If Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, their president, Vladimir Putin, would “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran,” Zelensky said in an exclusive interview with Associated Press.
“If he will feel some blood – smell that we are weak – he will push, push, push,” Zelensky said in English, which he used for virtually all of the interview.
The Ukrainian leader spoke to the AP aboard a train shuttling him across Ukraine, to cities near some of the fiercest fighting and others where his country’s forces have successfully repelled Russia’s invasion. The AP is the first news organisation to travel extensively with Zelensky since the war began just over a year ago.
Since then, Ukraine – backed by much of the West – has surprised the world with the strength of its resistance against the larger, better equipped Russian military. Ukrainian forces have held their capital, Kyiv, and pushed Russia back from other strategically important areas.
But as the war enters its second year, Zelensky finds himself focused on keeping motivation high in both his military and the general Ukrainian population – particularly the millions who have fled abroad and those living in relative comfort and security far from the front lines.