George W. Bush says ‘tough dude’ Zelensky can win Ukraine’s war against Russia

The former US president told a conference Ukraine was a ‘peaceful democracy that was growing its institutions’ when Russia invaded in February
Bush added it is important for Washington to support Kyiv’s fight against Moscow

Ukraine war

Associated Press

Published: 10:42am, 17 Nov 2022

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Former US president George W. Bush called Ukraine’s leader a “tough dude” on Wednesday, saying he believes Volodymyr Zelensky can win the war against Russia – as long as they get the support they need.

“Absolutely they can win, they’re winning,” Bush said at a conference held at his Dallas institute in Texas. “But they won’t win if the United States and the free world says it’s not worth it any more.”

The conference, which touted itself as focusing on ways to advance freedom and democracy around the world, was set to feature a virtual conversation between Bush and Zelensky. But because of Russia’s attack a day earlier across Ukraine, Zelensky had to “deal with matters at home,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute.

A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukrainian energy facilities across the country on Tuesday, causing widespread blackouts. The aerial assault followed one of Ukraine’s biggest military successes – the retaking last week of the southern city of Kherson.

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During the Russian attack, two people were killed when a missile fell in neighbouring Poland. On Wednesday, Nato’s chief and the president of Poland said Ukraine likely launched the projectile as it was fending off a Russian air assault, and there were no indications it was a deliberate attack by Russia on Poland.

Those initial assessments appeared to dial back the likelihood that the blast in Poland would trigger another major escalation in the nearly 9-month Russian invasion of Ukraine. If Russia had targeted Poland, that could have risked drawing Nato into the conflict. Still, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and others have laid overall, but not specific, blame on Russia’s invasion.

Speaking at the conference, Bush said Ukraine was a “peaceful democracy that was growing its institutions” when Russia invaded in February. “And from that moment forward, people of Ukraine have suffered mightily,” Bush said.

Bush said he believes history will judge Zelensky “as a remarkable leader,” adding that it is important for the US to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

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‘Beginning of the end’, says Zelensky about war as he visits Kherson after Russian retreat

President Joe Biden is currently asking Congress to provide more than US$37 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine.

“Failure in Ukraine will affect future generations of Americans,” Bush said. “An unstable Europe, a Europe in which a tyrant is on the march, is going to affect our national security.”

The Bush administration led the invasion of Iraq, which toppled long-time dictator Saddam Hussein but led to decades of death, chaos and violence there.

The conference opened with a video message from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who noted that the gathering “could not have convened at a more significant time” as democracies around the world are being “challenged on a daily basis.”

The leader of the self-governing island said the Russian invasion of Ukraine is “proof that dictatorships will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal of expansionism.”

“The menacing behaviour of authoritarian regimes should be a wake-up call to all democracies,” Tsai said. “We must work together to strengthen our resilience and safeguard our values.”