On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to criticize Democrat President Joe Biden for his lack of assistance in helping Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion.
“This morning we are defending our state alone. Like yesterday, the world’s most powerful forces are watching from afar,” Zelensky said. “Did yesterday’s sanctions convince Russia? We hear in our sky and see on our earth that this was not enough.”
“We are left alone in defense of our state,” Zelensky later added. “Who is ready to fight with us? Honestly – I do not see such. Who is ready to guarantee Ukraine’s accession to NATO? Honestly, everyone is afraid. … I tell all the partners of our state: now is an important moment – the fate of our country is being decided. I ask them: are you with us? They answer that they are with us. But they are not ready to take us to the Alliance. Today, I asked the twenty-seven leaders of Europe whether Ukraine will be in NATO. I asked directly. Everyone is afraid. They do not answer.”
“And we are not afraid of anything,” Zelensky continued. “We are not afraid to defend our state. We are not afraid of Russia. We are not afraid to talk to Russia. We are not afraid to say everything about security guarantees for our state. We are not afraid to talk about neutral status. We are not in NATO now. But the main thing – what security guarantees will we have? And what specific countries will give them?”
Zelensky’s comments come the day after Biden said that “nobody expected” the sanctions his administration had been using to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine would “prevent anything from happening.”
On Thursday, Zelensky also announced he would give weapons to anyone willing to help his country defend itself from the Russians.
“We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities,” Zelensky said in a statement. “We will lift sanctions on all citizens of Ukraine who are ready to defend our country as part of territorial defense with weapons in hands.”
