President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, returning from Sumy on March 28 by train, gave an interview to the American publication Associated Press News.

In particular, in this interview, the head of state talked about the importance of Bakhmut, reacted to Putin's nuclear threats, analyzed the visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Russia, and more.

TSN.ua collected the most important theses of the head of state from a conversation with Julia Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press.

An important battle for Bakhmut

Zelensky believes that 

if Bakhmut falls, there will be pressure from both Western partners and within Ukraine.

This in turn, in his opinion, will allow "Russia can start 

build international support for an agreement that may require unacceptable compromises from Ukraine"

"If 

Bakhmut will fall 

under the arms 

Russian troops, 

their president, Vladimir Putin 

will sell 

this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran.

If he feels blood - 

smells that we are weak - he will push

 (for compromises - ed.)

", - American journalists quote Zelensky.

He is also sure that the defeat in the battle for Bakhmut will be more 

of a political defeat than a tactical one

"Our society will feel tired. 

Our society will push me to compromise with them (Russia - ed.)," he noted. 

Zelensky invited Xi Jinping to Ukraine

President 

Volodymyr Zelensky

 invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit Ukraine and added that he had not spoken to the Chinese president since the start of Putin's full-scale invasion. 

"We are ready to see him here. I want to talk to him. I was in contact with him before the full-scale war. But for this whole year, more than a year, we have had no contact," the leader of Ukraine said.

Risk of losing the war to Russia

Zelensky believes that if the US stops providing military and financial aid to Ukraine, Ukraine risks losing the war to Russia.

The White House also understands this. 

"The United States really understands that 

if they stop helping us, we won't win

," he said. 

Zelensky also expressed concern about possible changes in political forces in Washington after the 2024 elections. He believes that the victory of the Republicans may 

affect the further development of the war in Ukraine.

Zelensky

did not say which of the Republicans he was referring to.

However, the authors of the article assume that it is about former 

US President Donald Trump and the alleged 

Trump's election rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

Why did Putin announce the placement of nuclear weapons in Belarus

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi commented for the first time on the statement of the criminal Russian President Vladimir Putin about the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

According to the leader of Ukraine, it means that the visit of the leader of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, turned out to be "not good for Russia."

Zelensky believes that such a move by Putin was intended to divert attention 

from the lack of guarantees that he did not receive from China.

The war of aggression strengthened Ukrainian society

The head of state is sure that the bloody war unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin only "strengthened society and made it stronger.

"It could go one way, divide the country, or another way — unite us. 

I am very grateful. 

I am grateful to everyone - to each individual partner, to our people, thank God, to everyone - that we found this way at this critical moment for the nation. 

Finding this way saved our nation and we saved our land. 

We are together," the leader of Ukraine concluded his interview.

Read also:

  • Russia does not have the capacity for a major offensive: The Guardian explained why

  • Russian losses exceeded 172,000: 610 occupiers were eliminated

  • Zelensky addressed the Ukrainians: he announced the threat in Sumy Oblast and praised the fighters who are destroying the enemy