Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York in an interview by video link on Wednesday. Following are excerpts of his comments.
EU MEMBERSHIP BID
"Today is a successful day ... Reforms are also fighting - with an old system. Of course, we need it to become a member of the EU, but first of all we do it for us, we need it."
FIGHTING CORRUPTION
"We did a lot, mostly in anti-corruption infrastructure, and we voted on the laws. Now we have a law on the special anti-corruption prosecutor. It is a new law and it is already registered in parliament.
"I hope our parliamentarians will vote for this law in the nearest time."
BATTLEFIELD
"We have some slow steps forward on the south of our country, also we have steps on the east. And some, I think, good steps near Kherson region. I am sure that we’ll have success. It’s difficult."
"We’ll try to show the result this year. We don’t need to surprise everybody in the world, we need this for ourselves."
"You have also understand that there are so many bad surprises. Crisis, in some parliament, or Congress. The decisions are made a little bit slowly. Our soldiers came south and saw a lot of minefields because we waited for ammunition seven months."
SITUATION IN THE US
"Some voices from Republicans are now really dangerous. Of course, our people are afraid of such voices"
"If the US changes the position... in Congress or the White House, if it will change the foreign policy... We will fight without you, you have to understand our people - freedom is the most important value we have, and nobody will give it away even if big leaders try to push us."
SHIFTING OF ATTENTION TO MIDDLE EAST
"I don’t want to compare these. Big tragedy in the Middle East, of course, but you can’t compare it with a full-scale war. I am not trying to say that something is more important, with all respect to all the nations. But you have to understand that full-scale war is another thing."
WAR ENDING
"Why do you think the country in war, the country which has been attacked, should be ready for compromise? ... Russia’s soldiers have to go to their own land. They have to go out. This is the real way to stop the war."
"If the compromise will be our territories, you have to understand what will be in other regions, on other continents. Everywhere from this moment, the territories of other countries will be compromised.”
"We are open to any voices, not Russia's, including our partners, including Brazil, the United States, China, Africa... We say that we can share your ideas, it's normal, we are free. It's not dogma that only our 10 points (of Ukraine's peace formula), and that's it... But everything has to be based on one idea, otherwise, we'll never find a solution".
To view the live broadcast of the World Stage go to the Reuters NEXT news page: https://www.reuters.com/world/reuters-next/
