The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky , told Latin American media, including Cenital, that his country is working with Argentina on a possible "co-production" of devices for military use such as "drones and anti-drones." It was during a meeting at the presidential complex in Kiev, where he spoke about his relationship with Javier Milei and once again showed his frustration at the distances that Brazil and China mark for him, countries that will not be in his “Conference for Peace” - which will take place this coming Saturday the 15th and Sunday the 16th, which he called thinking “first in Russia.” Although on the other hand he assured that more than 80 of the 160 presidents invited to the meeting have already confirmed their presence; among them Milei and his peers from Chile, Gabriel Boric, and from Colombia, Gustavo Petro.
In the meeting with the press, Zelensky spoke about commercial exchange and diplomacy in pursuit of gaining accessions beyond his usual partners, whom he reproached for wavering in their support for kyiv while its troops were losing ground on the battlefield. After months of blocking aid to Ukraine in the United States Congress, including preventing the use of NATO weapons to attack Russia in its own territory, the former commander and current Ukrainian leader is looking for allies on other horizons.
The questions to the Ukrainian president from the Latin American press:
Cenital: -How is your relationship with the Government of Argentina? Why are you so interested now in relations with Latin America?
Volodymyr Zelensky: -We are beginning to build strong relations between our countries. I was at President Milei's inauguration and I am enormously grateful that he supports us and we know that he will be present at the Summit (in Geneva). There are no big or small countries. Latin America has a powerful voice in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly. They listen to it in political decisions because it is a very powerful region of the world. And the economic crisis is something that comes and goes. What matters is the solidarity of the country, the influence. And right now, influence is important to us.
-Argentina is a country that does not have weapons and is going through a difficult economic situation. How do you think it can help Ukraine?
- Friendship begins with the economy and Ukraine can potentially have an important economic exchange with your country . It is true that Argentina may not be able to give us weapons because there is no military industry, because - thank God! - there are no, and I hope there are no, wars in their countries, but freedom is a key word for the countries of Latin America and I heard it a lot when I was at the inauguration ceremony of President Milei. The transgression of values such as freedom is important. This is what happens to our country. And if Ukraine falls and the world does not support it, it will be an example that will spread throughout the world . When we are talking about the security of Ukraine, also We are talking about the security of your country and your continent with regard to the development of the military industry for defense. We want to develop that area, not so that there is war, but so that there is not.
- What do you mean by the development of the military area?
- We have to be strong and defend ourselves to ensure safety. War can take many forms; cyberwar or other information spaces, and now we have very different things such as drones, electronic defense systems and it is something that we want to develop with Argentina. Our First Deputy Minister and Minister of Economy, Yuliia Svyrydenko, recently spoke about this with authorities in her country. We have already studied some productive possibilities that Argentina has and we would like to develop this type of collaboration, and we want Russia to not have so much influence over Latin America.
-What type of collaboration do you imagine?
- Make a co-production regarding drones, anti-drones, maritime drones and also (to make up for) the very large deficit we have with, for example, gunpowder . We were always very open to our Argentine colleagues. Now we are willing to do that type of production in both Ukraine and Argentina. We are ready to collaborate, co-produce and share the technologies that Ukraine has already received during this war. We have no choice. Russia is very big and we have no alternative but to be fast and technological.
-The Ukrainian High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, announced on Wednesday that Argentina joined the international coalition to repatriate the children that his country denounces were kidnapped by Russia during the war. What does that support consist of?
-I would like to tell you that the recovery of children is not a matter of a single government. To recover the children, political pressure must be put on Russia through various channels and various countries. We are still at war and during the war we do not have access to complete lists because children were taken from temporarily occupied territories in a process that we did not control. It's a huge job. It's not just about Argentina. It is a very difficult question. One of the most complicated.
-You demand support from the Latin American countries, but are you willing to support Argentina in its claim of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands?
- Ukraine supports the territorial integrity of all States and we have always said so. I want to emphasize it, whatever the territorial issues may be. We must work on the diplomatic front so that the war does not start, until there is the possibility of doing everything possible so that the bullets, the missiles, do not attack. It is my opinion. We work for territorial integrity with our State, but above all for the people who live in these territories . It's about recovering lives. People want to go home. This is the major objective. Whatever the conflict, whatever the slogans, we have to do everything possible to ensure that there is no war. Do not feed the issue of capturing other people's territories, never feed this issue. That is why it is so important that when we talk about supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries, it is not just words . If you don't say it out loud, the attacker can come and capture you.
-President Lula da Silva will not go to the Summit in Geneva and neither will his chancellor, what would he say to the Brazilian government? And, based on this, is Brazil the most important country for Ukraine in Latin America?
-(Zelenski writes down, takes a breath and responds) To what extent is the union of Latin America important? For you it is very important. They can't have enemy neighbors because they will soon be in their house. It's what happened to us. It's very difficult when you don't understand that war is very close. With new technologies, you can attack any point in the world and it is very difficult to defend yourself, because you have very large territories, like Brazil, and it cannot be defended in its entirety. We can't and neither can Russia. When our weapons reach their territories, they are unable to defend themselves. That is why it is so important to have a strong union in Latin America. Ukraine also wants to have that kind of alliance. And President Lula, doesn't he want to have that alliance? I don't understand it, I don't understand it (repeats). The latest signal that Brazil and China gave is that they are willing to participate only if Russia does so. But Russia attacked us. Is Russia closer to Brazil than Ukraine? Brazil has to be on our side and give an ultimatum to the aggressor. Why do we have to repeat this again? For historical memory, for economic issues?
-Do you suggest that it is a position for economic interests?
-The economy is important until the moment a war comes and then values change. It's children, family, life and then trade with the Russian Federation. Now they take advantage of the fact that energy is cheaper, but Brazil cannot receive energy resources for one generation or a hundred. We may gain something for one or three years, but then the consequences will be terrible. Dependence on Russia can be terrible, like African countries, for example, where Russian troops were sent. Do any of these countries have rapid development? Is anyone independent? A privileged friendship with a person who has a fascist ideology can only be beneficial for a time. And we see it in the history of the Soviet Union, with which many countries in the global south had quite a relationship, but I want to remember that not only Russia was there, there were many countries that exchanged with Latin America, among them Ukraine. But today Russia, separately, is a pragmatic and fascist country, so they do not want to develop their own internal economy, but rather they want to kill the economies of other countries in order to force them.
On the streets of kyiv, military vehicles and pedestrians coexist in apparent normality, reflecting the resilience of daily life in the midst of the conflict.
-Are you worried then about Brazil's absence at the Swiss Summit?
-We need that vote from the Latin American countries at the Summit because it is the summit of peace, not war. And I believe that the alliance with the Latin American countries is much more powerful than Brazil's alliance with Russia alone. We have not had a joint declaration with President Lula or from Ukraine and Brazil, and Brazil and China do have that joint declaration, which they want to share with Russia. But why? If we are the ones attacked. China can join hands with us, but China cannot impose on us how to end this war and decide for us. Why do Brazil and China think first of the Russians and then of us? How can we give this advantage to countries that attack others and prioritize this alliance with an aggressor? This is why we are waiting for the leaders of all countries who want to end this war.
-What do you think is the position of Brazil and China and what do you think is missing to bring them closer to the Ukrainian position?
-We have absolute respect for the Chinese leader, we want to see him and talk. And the same with the president of Brazil. We know that they have their own vision and we are willing to listen to them at the Peace Summit. But first we have to reconcile our common opinion with all those who deny aggression, not with Russia. Because Russia blocked 200 meetings in the format of the Minsk Agreements (2014). Because? Because he doesn't want to end this war. What he wants is to freeze this conflict in our territory.
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