Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to US podcaster Lex Fridman, in which he used strong language to express his frustration with the US’s response to Russia’s military actions. Zelensky criticized the US for not imposing sanctions on Russia before the start of the conflict and for not providing Ukraine with sufficient military aid.
Zelensky stated that he had asked the US for two main things: stronger military support and the imposition of sanctions on Russia. He also expressed his disappointment with the West’s reaction to Russia’s actions, calling it “nonsense”.
The Ukrainian leader also used strong language to describe the actions of Russia and the leaders of the signatory states of the Budapest Memorandum, saying that the agreement was just a piece of paper and that no one was concerned about it.
Zelensky stated that he does not respect the Russian leadership or the Russian people, and that he believes the NATO can operate in the areas controlled by Ukraine, provided that the alliance provides the necessary military and security guarantees.
The Ukrainian president’s comments sparked a strong reaction from Russian politicians, with the Foreign Ministry’s press secretary, Maria Zakharova, calling Zelensky’s words a “hellish mix of neo-Nazism and terrorism with a drug addiction”.
Zelensky’s comments also drew criticism from Leonid Sluzki, the head of the LDPR party, who described the interview as a “classic of political self-denial and the agony of the last stage” and said that Zelensky’s words were a sign of the moral and intellectual degradation of the Ukrainian leader.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, also responded to Zelensky’s comments, saying that the Russian people despise the Ukrainian leader and that his words were a violation of the rules of political correctness in a conflict, where a negative evaluation should only be directed at the leadership and the ruling elite of a country, not the entire population.