Frank conversation on important topics Caliber.Az reports from the Ukrainian president’s news conference

On December 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a year-end news conference in Kyiv. The event itself was announced in the local media a day before it began. Accreditation had to be completed on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine. This procedure is quite easy, the main thing is to have a press card from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry in advance.

By the way, the press card allows a care holder to carry out editorial tasks in a combat zone and during a curfew. In a word, this is a kind of pass anywhere and everywhere. Another thing is that no one was informed in advance about the time and venue of the press conference. Only in the morning, I received a message in my mail that I had been accredited for such an important event and was also informed about its time. Simultaneously, the letter also contained a request.

“We ask you not to provide any information that directly or indirectly indicates the venue of the event until the end of the press conference.”

Following this request, I will not indicate the venue where the year-end news conference of the Ukrainian president took place. I will only note that it was organized quite well. There were two lines of media representatives - Ukrainian and foreign. Colleagues approached the lovely girls, named the publication, showed a passport or other identification document along with an editorial ID, and entered the hall.

At the same time, many journalists were given white cardboard sheets on which the name of the media they represented was written. This is a compliment from the organizers of an important, final event of the Ukrainian president. I note that there were a lot of colleagues gathered. Hundreds of journalists from a variety of local and foreign media, including TV channels, websites, and newspapers, came to ask their question to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He appeared in the hall two hours after the accreditation of journalists began. While waiting, colleagues exchanged the latest information and took selfies. And here is Volodymyr Zelenskyy! He entered the hall where Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak were already sitting in the first row. By the way, on Tuesday he wrote in his Telegram channel that Ukraine has continued to effectively resist Russia for almost two years.

“Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has destroyed 87% of its regular army. These are landing troops, marines, special forces, and contract soldiers,” he wrote. This figure is important to remember and understand for everyone who is now complaining about the lack of progress in the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army. Naturally, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mainly spoke about this, about the current state of affairs at the front and plans for the future.

“For example, when asked what goals were set for the next 12 months, he replied: “I can’t tell you about goals. We had difficulties in the South because everyone around us was saying what our goals were. Frankly speaking, all months everyone has been talking about where we are going and everyone has been considering in detail how we will get there, how we will not get there, what is best, what will be enough, what will not be enough; or maybe, it’s better to go south, it’s warm there, but you can do it later because it’s winter there.”

Yes, it's true. In Ukraine, including among experts and officials, there were a lot of forecasts and even promises that gave rise to excessive optimistic hopes and inflated expectations in Ukrainian society. And when they did not come true, this led to a loss of trust in the authorities and a drop in the rating of the Ukrainian president.

Now he is inferior in opinion polls to Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. But, to the credit of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he takes all this calmly. The Ukrainian president was asked the question: “Are you afraid that Ukrainians are being separated as a society not only because of two years of war but also because of their support for you as president?”

This is what he answered: “As for supporting me as president. I said it was an honor to be president. And then people decide, people see how I work, how I serve Ukraine. If they don’t like it, it’s understandable, it’s the Ukrainians’ choice, that’s normal.”

They also asked him a question about the prospects for Ukraine joining NATO. Zelenskyy stressed that the country’s full entry into the alliance is “a powerful option for ensuring the security of our state.” But so far, according to him, Ukraine has not been invited to NATO. At the same time, he also spoke about the so-called “partial” entry of Ukraine into the alliance.

Former NATO Secretary General Rasmussen put forward a proposal for Ukraine to join the alliance, but Article 5 of the treaty should not apply to territories occupied by Russia. Rasmussen insists that Ukraine's partial membership plan would not symbolize a freeze in the conflict, but would instead signal a determination to warn Russia that it cannot prevent Ukraine from joining the alliance.

And at the final press conference of the president of Ukraine, everyone heard his attitude towards this kind of proposal. “Signals regarding a partial participation of Ukraine in the alliance is nonsense. No offense to those who say this,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

As we can see, the answer was more than specific. His answer to the question of whether Ukraine is able to overcome the financial difficulties that arose due to the pause in receiving assistance from the United States was just as specific, with numbers. Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out that Ukraine has multi-year commitments for financial assistance from Belgium, Denmark, S Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Germany, Sweden and Japan.

“Long-term aid, I think, will still be substantial if there are any risks. Although I believe that our partners will not let us down,” he said.

According to Zelenskyy, “to date, Ukraine has received obligations from Belgium in the amount of 1.7 billion, Denmark – 4.2 billion, Korea – 2.3, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands – hundreds of millions, Norway – 7.5 billion, France – 2 billion, Germany – 8 billion, Sweden – just over half a billion, and there will be multi-billion-dollar aid from Japan.” However, the president of Ukraine did not indicate the currency in which this financial assistance would be.

In general, it was clear that despite his monstrous fatigue, the Ukrainian president was not ready for any concessions or compromises. He is confident in Ukraine’s victory, which he considers to be the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity in full. And here I would like to note that, unfortunately, I was not able to ask the head of the Ukrainian state a question.

My question would sound like this: “Having carried out an anti-terrorist operation at the end of September this year, Azerbaijan has completely restored its territorial integrity. This was the logical and fair conclusion of the strategy aimed at a military solution to the Karabakh conflict, an important part of which was the victory of Azerbaijan in the 44-day war. The implementation of this strategy took more than a quarter of a century. Have you studied it and, if so, are elements of its application possible by Ukraine?”

Alas, some too many people wanted to ask a question to Vladimir Zelensky, whose press conference lasted two hours, minute by minute. In general, it was a frank conversation between the head of the Ukrainian state and representatives of the press. I can only hope that I will have better luck at the next press conference of the president of Ukraine. And, I hope, the reasons for holding it will be more pleasant.