Zelenskyy: 'The war is not over' until Ukraine retakes Crimea

03 July 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN's Erin Burnett in an exclusive Sunday interview in Odesa that Russian President Vladimir Putin's response to the Wagner Group's failed June 24th mutiny was "weak" and that a peace deal with him is impossible so long as Russia maintains its occupation of the Crimean Peninsula.

"We see Putin's reaction. It's weak," Zelenskyy remarked of how Putin handled the private military company's aborted march on Moscow.

"Firstly, we see he doesn't control everything. Wagner's moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn't control the situation in the regions," Zelenskyy continued. "All that vertical of power he used to have is just crumbling down."

After briefly reflecting upon his relationship with Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, Zelenskyy affirmed his commitment to liberating Crimea from Russia, which illegally annexed the region in 2014 and thusly considers it a part of its territory.

"We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And while Crimea is under the Russian occupation, it means only one thing: the war is not over yet," Zelenskyy declared, adding that "it will not be victory" unless Ukraine reclaims Crimea.

Burnett's conversation with Zelenskyy is available at this link.

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