Zelenskyy on Putin: ‘He may see himself as a tsar, but in reality, he is a slave to war’

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference in Germany. Photo / Handout / Ukrainian presidential press service via AFP

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as a “slave to war” in a speech to the Munich Security Conference today, adding that Russia’s attacks had damaged every power plant in the country.

Zelenskyy also drew parallels between the Russia-Ukraine talks over territorial concessions and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when Hitler forced territorial concessions from the European powers - a year before World War II.

Zelenskyy was speaking days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s invasion, which has killed hundreds of thousands, decimated eastern Ukraine and forced millions to flee.

Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of deliberately freezing Ukraine’s population with its attacks on the energy grid.

“There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks,” Zelenskyy said. “Not one.

“But we still generate electricity,” he added, praising the thousands of workers repairing the plants.

Once again, he appealed to the West to deliver air-defence systems to Ukraine more quickly.

Of Putin, who launched the war in February 2022, Zelenskyy said: “He may see himself as a tsar, but in reality, he is a slave to war.”

Russia and Ukraine will hold United States-brokered talks next week, and Zelenskyy said Kyiv was doing “everything” to end the war.

Security guarantees

Zelenskyy also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich conference.

Russia has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from its Donetsk region and wants Kyiv to recognise its claim to the swathes of Ukraine that it occupies. Ukraine has ruled out surrendering its eastern regions.

Of the talks so far, Zelenskyy said: “The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine”.

He also drew parallels between the current talks and the 1938 Munich Agreement, when European powers let Hitler take part of Czechoslovakia only for World War II to break out the following year.

“It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine - just as it was an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a great war,” he warned.

Kyiv was doing “everything” to end the war, he said, insisting that viable security guarantees were the only way to get to a deal and prevent future Russian aggression.

“With Russia, you cannot leave a single loophole Russians can use to start a war,” he said.

Zelenskyy again argued that there would be more chance of ending the war if European countries had a seat at the negotiating table - something Russia has opposed.

The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, between the two sides will come after two rounds of US-Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Abu Dhabi.

In a social media post Zelenskyy said he had spoken by phone to US envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner ahead of the talks.

“We count on the meetings being truly productive,” he added.

But with no diplomatic breakthrough so far, the Ukrainian leader has called on his Western allies to make faster political decisions.

“Weapons evolve faster than political decisions meant to stop them,” Zelenskyy said. The Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia was using had become much more deadly, he noted.

Returning to the question of elections in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said they would be held once Kyiv received security guarantees and a ceasefire had been agreed.

-Agence France-Presse