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Zelensky has a message for Washington: Don’t call peace impossible while refusing to put more pressure on Putin

Source: Meduza

Meduza presents statements about the war in Ukraine by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an October 8 interview with the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, as well as the response from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Marco Rubio

Well, unfortunately, [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine] seems to be going into its fifth year, which was never the original plan. I don’t think that was Putin’s plan for this war, so it hasn’t gone the way he planned it. And I think what it is now, unfortunately, is a strategic stalemate, which is a dangerous thing. Strategic stalemates are only broken in one of two ways: (a) through a negotiated settlement, or (b) through escalation by one side or both that ends up spreading beyond the confines of the original conflict.

Right now, there don’t seem to be prospects of a negotiated settlement. We are prepared to play whatever role we can in making that happen. And we have tried in the past, but so far it’s been elusive. The Russians have defined victory as the totality of Donetsk; they’ve repeatedly stated that as their goal, and they continue to state that as their goal. And that’s a condition that, for Ukraine, is simply unacceptable. And so, a diplomatic solution has eluded us, but we are prepared, if we can play a constructive role, to make it happen.

In the meantime, we watch with great concern as escalation could happen. Just yesterday, some ships were attacked in the Black Sea through a coordinated drone attack. We’re worried about a sabotage operation in a neighboring country that can spiral out of control. And, obviously, I think there are clear indications that Russia will use the upcoming winter as something they want to use to destroy what remains of the electric grid in Ukraine and force them into capitulation.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has grown more effective in its ability to conduct long-range strikes deep into Russia. So, we share the same concern. The whole world is going about this thing like something that could escalate and perhaps become a broader conflict. So, we stand prepared to facilitate and continue to explore any opportunity for a negotiated settlement. We think it would be good for Russia and Ukraine, but so far, it’s proving elusive.

Volodymyr Zelensky

We’ve heard all sorts of things during this war. So many dead ends, difficult situations, and so on. We — ordinary people, leaders, politicians — back ourselves into corners. Even on the first day of the war, we weren’t cornered, because one man tried to back an entire nation into a dead end, and the people rose up and defended their country. We didn’t let the Russians do that. We had high hopes that we would receive support. And that support began to arrive.

But after that, you can’t, you see, on the one hand make deals with the Russians about some future economic projects and, on the other, say that we’re in some kind of political situation, a diplomatic dead end, or whatever. We’re not at a diplomatic dead end. Cut off his economy entirely. Sew Russia’s mouth shut. Stop feeding them with your sales. Just impose sanctions on their weapons.

Make Starlink available to us, to Ukraine. You made it available when you were responding to Iran, and everything worked there. Israel had complete control of the skies. Complete control of the skies over Iran. So when you need it, it works that way.

Right now, we’re talking to various colleagues in Europe and America, and I tell them frankly: China is developing an alternative to Starlink. And they’re getting close. And they’ll give it to Russia. Russia could gain that kind of dominance. We’re talking to Europeans who are also developing several technologies along these lines. They’d be happy to help us, but they’re still not as close to achieving the result we need.

And simply controlling the skies so we can defend ourselves — we’re talking about defense here. The United States has that capability. It does. It would cost them nothing, absolutely nothing, to help Ukraine. And I’ve said frankly: Give us that. Help us defend our airspace and dominate it. Then Putin will come to the negotiating table. Why? Because he’ll lose everything. He’ll lose everything. Three months, two months — he’ll lose everything.

But instead, we’re waiting for the Chinese to develop their equivalent and hand it over to the Russians. So where’s the truth in that? Where’s the honesty? Where is any of it? What dead end? What dead end? This isn’t a dead end. It’s called unwillingness. It’s not a dead end.