60 Minutes
- Welcome back to 60 Minutes. Of course, the majority of questions to the president were about our domestic politics, our economic life, and our issues. But imagine, there were questions about Ukraine as well because that's also a matter of concern. Let's hear his reply about Zelensky.
Vladimir Putin: "He is a talented person. I remember his performances at the KVN show in Moscow in the mid-2000s if I'm not mistaken. He's talented and funny. But what we see now isn't funny. It’s not a comedy. It’s a tragedy. In the position where he is, being the president of Ukraine, you need to solve these problems. Especially since he repeatedly talked about that during his election campaign, he made it the core of his entire election campaign. But what's happening now? When he was abroad, in Paris I believe, he said that he was not going to talk to the separatists, the representatives of the unrecognized republics. How can he solve the problem then? Modern history knows not a single example of similar conflicts being resolved without direct dialogue between the warring parties. It's simply impossible. Moreover, the shelling coming from the ZSU has become more frequent. During the election campaign, he said he was going to put a stop to it. He said he was going to lift the blockade, which is in direct violation of the Minsk Agreements. But he's not doing anything. The blockade is only getting more severe. Nothing's happening. Meeting someone halfway is the easiest thing to do. The Ukrainian government needs to show the political will to do it".
- It's a known fact that there's no such will. Leonid, do I understand it correctly? Did he mean that Russian-Ukrainian relations haven't improved since Poroshenko? Are they going to be about the same during Zelensky's term as well?
Leonid Kalashnikov, State Duma Deputy: It's not the first time that Putin has said that. He's being very cautious by the way. I've repeatedly said that he could've taken him at his word multiple times. He could've taken Zelensky at his word when he was talking about Crimea and our "aggression." Notice how President Putin gives President Zelensky, and he even called him the president this time, speaking of whether we recognize him, to do something. Go on, do something instead of talking. Of course, I also find the matter important. I understand Zelensky's situation, he's got a Rada to elect. Putin also understands that. He realizes that you can't change anything overnight. One flight here or one trip there won't change anything. He had a similar situation back in the 2000s. He had a similar situation when he had to fly to a war zone. But he showed his will.
Will Zelensky show it though? Like Poroshenko, Zelensky didn't quite make it there. Here's how Aliyev resolved issues in his country: He went right to Guseynov, who was heavily armed. Zelensky doesn't want to do that. But he also declares that he doesn't even want to talk. How are you going to solve it then? Take North Cyprus and South Cyprus, for instance. Do Greece and Turkey do the talking? No, the North and the South sit down and talk. Yes, they can't come to an agreement and are suffering from that. But they don't cut off each other's water, gas, and power supply. They act in a civilized manner, they continue to supply each other. And these guys call the others brothers but close the pipelines and blow up the power plants. We could be doing the same thing but Putin decided not to. And I support his decision. Many experts tell me that Zelensky's the same. "Give him time, he needs to replace the team, elect a new parliament." Perhaps. We'll hold him accountable in two months. Of course, he might have acted differently if he hadn't been a comedian turned president. At least he would've been more careful when talking about Crimea and our so-called aggression. On the other hand, that's his political reality. He had 70% of Ukrainians vote for him; those aren't the people who support Russia. Boyko was the one supporting Russia. Maybe he wants to keep those voters. I believe Putin realizes that. Will Zelensky realize that he needs to take real steps later in order to fix our relations? Or will he continue to walk this path? We'll wait and see.
Irina Yarovaya, Deputy State Duma Chair: I believe the President assesses the combination of factors shaping the objective situation in Ukraine and the framework Zelensky's stepped in. Ukraine has fanned the flames of nationalism in their country. That's an obvious and dangerous fact. All actions of the newly elected president, odd as it may seem, show that he's afraid of the nationalists. He's very cautious about some topics primarily because he's afraid of the reaction of the nationalists. He isn't exactly free in this sense. Ukraine depends on the US. It's not a secret that the missions that have been working in Kiev for a long time orchestrated the Maidan and the coup. They're still there. This dependence also ties his hands. That's why when he says he's not ready to talk do Donbass, it probably means that he doesn't know what to say to Donbass. He doesn't have his own position. He probably realizes that the way he's been offered is not the right thing to do. But he doesn't have his own points so far because he hasn't become a true president yet. Even though he's been officially elected, he didn't acquire the status of a guarantor because he's incapable of acting on his own. That's the problem in Ukraine.
- It lacks sovereignty.
Boris Nadezhdin, political analyst: Well, frankly speaking, Zelensky's victory was a good thing. Poroshenko was structuring his entire campaign around Russia apparently dragging Ukraine into this hellish war and so on. He lost with a miserable result. The incumbent president got like 20%.
- That always happens there.
- No, it doesn't. Yushchenko had an even worse result. Zelensky won by a landslide because, for the first time in the history of Ukraine, the candidate won in all regions, except for a single western region. That's never happened before. Presidents used to always win in one area, just like Yanukovych did in the east. In this sense, he unified the country, which is a good thing. Next, regarding Donbass, he said he wouldn't talk to the DPR and LPR. I didn't like that. Russia had a violent war in Chechnya. It involved federal troops. Still, we managed to achieve peace through dialogue. We made peace with the separatists, Kadyrov and the others. In fact, there's no other way. One must understand that Zelensky is drowning in the election campaign. Unlike in Russia where, with all due respect, the State Duma isn't that important, Ukraine's basically a parliamentary republic. The Ukrainian government will be shaped by the Rada elections. Zelensky's goal is to get as many seats in the Rada as possible.
- He's chosen the perfect strategy.
- He's trying to appeal to the new voters for his party, which is currently the leader, the voters who believe that Russia's an aggressor and so on. Unfortunately, there are many in Ukraine who believe that. That's why we should wait until the Rada elections are over. If Zelensky's party gets a lot of seats in these Rada elections, we'll get an open road towards the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. They're stuck on that sixth paragraph at a time when the Verkhovna Rada was supposed to adopt a law on the special status of Donbass. It couldn't do it back then.
- They didn't stop shooting either. Let's talk about Russian-Ukrainian relations and not Zelensky personally. Regarding Putin's personal attitude towards him, let's hear another statement, the one about jokes, and I guess we're back to Zelensky again.
"We know that you love jokes and often quote them. Do you know any jokes about yourself?"
Vladimir Putin: "Well, I've heard some. Could you share with us? Well, one of my recently elected counterparts does it professionally and is far better at it".
- The gauntlet has been thrown.
