Up First from NPR - BONUS: Zelenskyy Makes Case For More Aid

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that more foreign aid is necessary to beat back Vladimir Putin's ambitions to expand Russia's influence across Europe.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country and the U.S. share common values. He enjoys bipartisan support and some Republican resistance to funding the war. How does he answer questions about it? I'm Steve Inskeep. We interview Zelensky on this special edition of Up First from NPR News. Is there any way to negotiate? Zelensky says Russia's president can't be trusted. And it's not the first negotiations with Putin, with somebody, and after that he forgot it, or killed people, or forgot to negotiate. Also, we gathered questions from Ukrainians to their president, and our team met a young Ukrainian couple who decided to marry while the husband

was on leave from the army. What does Zelensky say about their future? Stay with us. Now Our Change will honour 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to our change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. We met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week. He was in New York City for the meeting of the United Nations, and he took some time to talk to a team from NPR. Zelensky was surrounded by people in suits, although he wore his trademark military clothes, olive green pants and a dark sweatshirt.

He settled into his chair, and he wondered how his mixture of English and Ukrainian would come across on the radio. Can I ask you a question? Yes, of course. Yes, when we speak, I will answer Ukrainian and sometimes English. Yes. But in radio, they will not hear my natural voice. If I will speak Ukrainian, they will hear a translation. Yes. Zelensky observed that people can't see the emotions on his face and might not even hear much of his voice. He

wanted to reach Americans who have supported Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion. So whenever possible, he spoke in English about shared values. Yes, of course, we have the same values, freedom and democracy. And that's why we are fighting against Russia. He says Russia shows its values by the way it fights, targeting the power grid or deporting children. simple, but it's not just a war on the front line. No. Energy system, nuclear plant, what is it? What will be next? This is the message Zelensky went on to deliver Thursday in Washington. His country has enjoyed bipartisan support, though a right-wing faction is pushing right now to cut off U.S. funding. Early this week, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy seemed to reflect those right-wing

views. Is Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don't think I have to commit anything. I have questions for him. Where's the accountability and the money we already spent? What is the plan for victory? After those remarks, McCarthy met Zelensky and said Zelensky answered his questions. Ukraine's leader still faces doubts about how the war would end. Some foreign policy specialists say only diplomacy can do that. There are Americans who have urged some kind of negotiation. One of them is Richard Haass, a veteran U.S. diplomat, one of a group of U.S. diplomats who met with Russian officials. I spoke with Richard Haas, and he wanted to know, are you willing to negotiate not over territory, you want all

your territory back, but over the timing and the means by which that would happen? Look, we have prepared, I guess, the very correct diplomatic way. He said Ukraine did welcome talks with Russia, like the deal that allowed Ukrainians to load grain onto ships to feed much of the world. He says Russia suspended that agreement when it saw an opportunity, in Zelensky's words, for blackmail. How many times would you need to make the same mistake, really? I believe that with this leader, this is something that is impossible to do. We can't achieve anything. In one of your speeches here in New York, you said Russia cannot be trusted. Ask Progozhin. I think yes. Yes. Is that your answer to any call for negotiations?

I think yes. We heard a lot from intelligence and from different people, from different leaders, what negotiations Prokosin had. Yevgeny Prokosin was the mercenary leader who mutinied against Russian President Putin. He later walked free under an arrangement that seemed to mean that he would not be harmed and then died in a mysterious plane crash. And it's not the first negotiations with Putin, with somebody, and after that he forgot it, or killed people, or forgot he had negotiated. He mentioned Putin's conversations with European leaders just before the war. They spoke with Putin directly and he said, no, no full-scale invasion, full-scale war.

No, I never will go where we are now. Honestly, yes, it's true. You can't negotiate with a person who really doesn't want. Does Russia have to be permanently disempowered in some way? I believe the fact that they won't be coming to this on their own, that they would need to have some sort of like change, transformation, a new face for their country. Zelensky pondered whether the real problem is Russia or just Putin. He concluded that it shows a problem with Russians that they have allowed Putin to stay in power so long. With Ukraine heading into another winter of war, a team from NPR's Kiev bureau went out into the

streets this week. They asked Ukrainians what questions they would put to their president. Some said they support him and have no questions at all. But a woman named Lyudmila, who is 73, said she spoke for many. I think we all have one desire to know when the war is over. What can you tell her? Well, thank you for the question. I think the question addressed by Lyudmila, who is 73 years old, I wish her many years. And I think this question is something that many Ukrainians would like to ask, no matter the age.

It's easier to say when we will have a victory. Zelensky has set a goal of recovering all Ukrainian territory that Russia seized. Ukraine's late summer offensive has made limited gains, but has moved slowly. The lengthening duration of the war complicates every problem in a democratic country. And as we reached out to Ukrainians, one asked about martial law. Ukrainians have lived under it since the invasion started. And our correspondent Joanna Kakisis knows what it's like in Kyiv. There are military checkpoints in and out of the city.

You've got to stop, get checked by guys with guns who look at your IDs to make sure you're in the country legally, that you're not a saboteur. Martial law also means curfews. You've got to be home by midnight or you could be detained by police. Shopping malls, cafes, bars, those all close by 10 p.m. And big gatherings like protests, music festivals, holiday celebrations, they are largely prohibited. Martial law has even delayed parliamentary elections, and the president told us there are many obstacles to next year's scheduled presidential election. A Ukrainian

economist said he would like to know if Zelensky would lift some of the Marshall law rules, especially one that combines the operations of TV channels. Zelensky said the questioner should think about the value of unified information in what is a propaganda war as well as a shooting one. And we're all kind of reinforced. And those steps that were made in order to have a unity inside the country and not to allow Russia to kind of absorb us, I believe that those steps that were made, they were right.

I want to conclude by telling you a few more things that we heard from Ukrainians. Yeah, please. A number of Ukrainians raised concerns about corruption and hoped that you would clean it up. I know that in recent days, you have replaced the leadership of the defense ministry, and there were some concerns about corruption there. In your view, how widespread is corruption in the government today? Well, first, I want to say that we have a zero tolerance to corruption, and this is why, and everyone knows about this, so whenever we find any detail of corruption or corrupt practices, then everything is discussed openly and the people are kind of dismissed. And let us be frank,

there are kind of weak people, strong people everywhere in the world. I think you're saying there will always be some corruption and you will attack it where you find it. Is that what you're... Always. Yes yes i think this is the only way how you can uh well defeat the corruption you can take stops you can dismiss people you can run investigations and people will have to go to prison for corruption but we have to kind of be very strict and very fast, because we might lose the trust and the support of our partners. But once again, I would like to say that the way we're doing that, the way we are kind of showing and disclosing all of this corruption, it's not for someone to say that we are a corrupt country. No, that's a different thing. Our correspondent in Kyiv was speaking with Ukrainians this week and came across a couple who had just been married.

They were just leaving the church. She was in a dress, he was in his army uniform, he was briefly on leave, and they took the opportunity to marry. And they said, of the future, everything's going to drag on in the war. About our family, of course, like we concerned, but we believe in best because like we love each other. We will handle everything. We will overcome everything. And like we fight for our family. They want to start a family. What promise can you make to them about their future and the future of their country?

Promises. I'm not sure that they need promises. I think that people who said such strong words, and I know it's not about hoping. I know that mostly our people, such people, that's why we will win. But we have to stay strong. What I can say, I will be with them and my family will be with them.

And it's great that they will have children. They want to have it. And that's so great because what we do, we do everything for the future of children. And that's so great because what we do, we do everything for the future of children and that's it. So I can't promise them that I will be with them. Not at home. Don't be afraid. Not at home.

I'll tell them you're coming to visit. Great, great. But anyways, I'm happy. So especially, you know, the war divided people, somebody is in Ukraine, somebody abroad. But for those people who are in Ukraine, all my thanks. I think you saved it. You did it. Mr. President, thanks for your time. Yeah, thank you so much.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with us in New York City. The interview is on video as well as audio, and you can see it at NPR.org. This has been a special edition of Up First from NPR News. Our episode was produced by Lisa Wiener and edited by Ali Schweitzer. The questions from Ukrainians were gathered by our colleagues Joanna Kikissas, Paulina Litvinova, Hannah Palomarenko, and Anton Loboda. Our executive producer is Erika Aguilar. I'm Steve Inskeep.