A man stands atop a Russian tank and flies the Ukrainian flag, defying the Russian occupation of Kherson in southern Ukraine
Amid incomplete and arguably misleading headlines about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s latest statement on talks with Russia and “neutral status”, Ukrainian activist Yulia Marushevska and I joined Monocle 24’s Georgina Godwin on Monday morning.
Analyzing Zelenskiy’s 92-minute interview with independent Russian journalists and his other statements, we note how he made clear that “neutral status” must go to a referendum — and that most Ukrainians are increasingly in favor of membership in NATO and the European Union.
We have to be clear here: the decision about Ukraine’s status will be made by Ukrainian people, not Zelenskiy himself.
Listen from 2:22:
Marushevska describes the current situation in Ukraine from her position in the west of the country, and I set US President Joe Biden’s speech in Poland — with international media featuring his declaration that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” — in the necessary context.
Joe Biden was saying the quiet part out loud: this is very much Vladimir Putin’s invasion; it’s his decision to try and conquer Ukraine, including killing civilians; and a person like that should not stay in power.
Those words should not overshadow the rest of the speech and the context in which it was given.
Both Biden and Zelenskiy talked about the choice for the Russian people: they can bear the cost imposed upon them, as well as upon Ukrainians, by Vladimir Putin. They can bear the cost of a basket-case economy, they can bear isolation from much of the international community — or they can mobilize in their own way to show that this war cannot stand, whether or not that means Putin cannot stand anymore.
See also Ukraine War, Day 33: Zelenskiy Sets Terms for Peace in Interview with Russian Journalists
