EXCLUSIVE: Zelensky rejects ‘long tales’, as his forces need months of training to operate advanced weaponry

“I’ve heard these long tales that we will need months to train our forces to use new tanks. Well, they gave us a Soviet-era tank,” Zelensky said in a statement. exclusive interview With CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday. “We are willing to use any kind of equipment, but it has to be delivered very quickly. And we have the ability to learn how to use the new equipment. But it has to come quickly.”

Zelensky’s interview with CNN comes as Russia prepares for a new phase in the war after its failure to capture Kyiv. Russian forces are preparing to intensify their offensive in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, including Mariupol. Ukrainian forces Russian ultimatum refused To surrender in Mariupol on Sunday.

Zelensky vows that troops in Mariupol will not surrender

“They say they are ready to let all the military go if they surrender. But they will not surrender. They don’t want to do that and that is why it is a complicated and tragic situation because the military does not want to surrender. Without that, the Russians are not ready to let them go,” Zelensky said. “When you can make a deal with the Russians to let them go, unarmed, but then, what they’ll do is shoot them dead. That’s why no one trusts Russia now.”

Zelensky added that Ukraine wanted to transfer the wounded from Mariupol, but Russian forces did not allow them to do so.

“We wanted to transport the wounded,” he said. “We talked about it being a humanitarian mission. Bring the wounded back to us.” “We have made plans for Turkey to be a mediator and get the wounded civilians and military out. They don’t let them out because we understand that Russia just wants to shoot them.”

“We wanted to transport the wounded. We talked about it being a humanitarian mission. Bring the wounded back to us!” He said. “We have made plans for Turkey to be a mediator and get the wounded civilians and military out. They don’t let them out because we understand that Russia just wants to shoot them.”

The situation in Mariupol is bleak. Most of the city was destroyed by Russian bombing. The civilian structures targeted included a maternity hospital and a theater where up to 1,300 people were seeking asylum.

Although many have fled, an estimated 100,000 people remain in the city and its immediate surroundings, which is reported to be largely under Russian control.

Zelensky pushed European countries to cut off Russian oil. Asked about Russian fuel flowing through pipelines in Ukraine, Zelensky said, “Yes, we understand this problem.”

“We understand how much money Russia makes from energy tankers. And yes, first of all, we’re calling for an oil embargo because they earn a billion a day from oil. We’re calling for a gas embargo after that,” Zelensky said. “And we are fighting together and looking at these options. But this is a transit. We have a transit agreement. That is why it is necessary to have an agreement between Europe and Russia, so they have a gas embargo. Then there there will be no transit.”

Zelensky added that Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian gas pipelines in an attempt to signal to European countries that they cannot rely on Ukraine.

“This is what Russia is aiming for. They are trying to act in this way to show that Ukraine is not able to supply gas safely,” Zelensky said. “They’ve been doing it and they’ve been doing it for a while because they want a chance to reopen Nord Stream 2. And we’re watching that constantly. I’ve already talked about it with our European partners, I don’t want to say what leaders I’ve talked to. I told them, please put a gas ban, from Please. We are ready to lose money. Money is not the most important thing to us. People are the most important.”