Chris Mason and Volodymyr Zelensky: My conversation with the Ukrainian President

July 19, 2024

59 minutes ago

I get to interview many politicians.

And to be honest, I like politicians.

It is my job to review them on your behalf and ask the questions you need answers to.

However, I think it is a noble act to seek public office.

Many politicians could lead quieter, simpler – and in many cases more lucrative – lives if they decided to earn their living in a different way.

However, functioning democracies need people who are willing to get involved in public life and accept the criticism that this entails.

Every now and then I have the privilege of meeting an outstanding political figure.

Volodymyr Zelensky stands out – at least among the politicians I speak to – as a wartime leader.

He embodies a nation under siege, in a deadly conflict in which – albeit indirectly – the values, instincts and interests of Western democracies are being played off against Russia.

The former television comedian and actor is not only president of his country, but president at a time of extreme danger for his people – and thus one of the most famous faces in the world.

It is therefore a privilege for me to ask him a few questions on your behalf during his visit to the United Kingdom.

He is a man Moscow would prefer to see dead, so it will come as no surprise that he is surrounded by strong security forces.

I should look at it again in private in my current conversation with him.

He speaks English very well, but in longer interviews (we spoke for about 40 minutes) he often answers in Ukrainian, especially when he emphasizes precision in his choice of words.

So we talked through interpreters, except for the moments when he liked to switch to English.

I asked him about the corruption that seems to be deeply rooted, if not widespread, at the highest levels of Ukrainian society.

He said the fact that we knew about it – and that people had lost their jobs because of it – showed that Kyiv was taking the matter seriously.

He expressed optimism about the prospect of meeting another British prime minister – Sir Keir Starmer is his fourth in the two-and-a-half years since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

He said he was confident because Britain had continued to support him steadfastly and consistently despite the domestic political turbulence.

A week ago, Sir Keir – on his first foreign visit as Prime Minister – was in the same room at the NATO summit in Washington when US President Joe Biden managed to confuse President Zelensky with, of all people, President Putin, while the Ukrainian President stood just a few metres away.

I was just down the hall waiting for Sir Keir’s press conference, which featured President Biden’s stunning faux pas. The Prime Minister, like the Ukrainian leader, tried to play it down as a mere example of these things.

But President Zelensky’s comment on Donald Trump’s views on Ukraine was even more pointed – and in English.

He also acknowledged that in his view the return of all Ukrainian territory was not necessarily a prerequisite for an end to the fighting.

“This does not mean that all areas will be recaptured by force,” he said. Let’s see what reactions these comments provoke.

For now the war rages on. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives, millions have been displaced and billions of pounds have been spent.

“Now is the time to stand up for freedom and democracy, and the place to do that is Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told me earlier.

A message for Moscow, Washington and elsewhere as the war rages on – and Volodomyr Zelensky continues to seek your support to win.