Preparing for the long war: an interview with President Zelensky
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the counter-offensive continues, Ukrainian forces are running out of time to make substantial gains. Diplomatic attempts to isolate Russia have failed and progress on the front lines is slowing. From the capital Kyiv, the president tells The Economist’s editor-in-chief how the country is bracing for a long war.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. I'm your host, Orat Ugunbi. |
| 0:09.6 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:16.4 | Over the many months since Russia invaded Ukraine, we've brought you frequent updates on |
| 0:27.6 | the progress of the war. But today's show is something special. |
| 0:33.1 | The Economist's editor-in-chief, Zany Minton Beadows, was in Ukraine's capital |
| 0:37.5 | Kiev on Friday to talk to President Velodimir Zelensky at a conference on his |
| 0:42.6 | country's future. The last time they spoke was in the spring of last year in what |
| 0:50.5 | was Mr Zelensky's first one-on-one interview after the invasion. But a lot has |
| 0:56.2 | changed since they last met. |
| 0:59.0 | President Zelensky, it's great to see you. The first time we met, it was four |
| 1:04.4 | weeks after the full-scale invasion when Arkady and I came to Kiev. Now it is |
| 1:09.1 | more than one and a half years later. This is beginning to feel like a long |
| 1:15.1 | war. You said recently to the people of Ukraine, we have to learn to live with |
| 1:20.0 | this war. Today you said to many foreign partners, this is not a feature film |
| 1:24.8 | where everything happens in one and a half hours. So my first question to you is, |
| 1:29.7 | what do you need to do differently to win a long war? Of course I don't want to |
| 1:37.1 | think about where a long war and I don't want to even communicate it really |
| 1:43.2 | with the people because I have to be ready. My team have to be ready for the long |
| 1:49.6 | war and from the point of my moral, I'm ready, emotional, and I'm ready. But I |
| 1:57.2 | think it will not help us with the people. It's so difficult for people because |
| 2:03.0 | people have to have a dream, but it's a real dream. It's true. It's not |
| 2:06.8 | fantastic that tomorrow we can win. Yes, it can be tomorrow or the day after |
... |
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