Editor’s Note: The following story is based on the transcript of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jan. 23 interview with HBO’s Axios program. The entire English-language transcript can be read here.
Ukraine is not going to let any non-Ukrainian entity acquire control of giant aircraft engine manufacturer Motor Sich, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The thing is that we have no right to sell the controlling stake of shares of Ukraine’s strategic-scale defense enterprises to any country,” the Ukrainian leader said during a Jan. 23 interview with Axios program broadcast by HBO. “This will never happen” during his presidency, he said.
The president’s remarks came just days before Zelensky on Jan. 29 issued a decree imposing sanctions on Chinese company Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., a Motor Sich investor willing to purchase a majority stake in the Ukrainian corporation.
Zelensky’s decision followed months of acute tension regarding the Motor Sich, in which the United States fiercely objected to China acquiring control over the Zaporizhia-based corporation, one of the world’s greatest airplane and helicopter engine manufacturers.
The presidential sanctions decree aligns with the policy of the United States, Ukraine’s strongest defense ally. The U.S. government has come out forcefully against Chinese expansion in the Ukrainian arms market, calling it an issue of national security for its Kyiv allies.
Aside from strategic defense industries, Zelensky said that he did not consider China as a threat and welcomed Chinese and any other foreign investment in Ukraine’s economy.
“I believe that no matter the nationality, if individuals, businesses, or a certain country, respect you, your people, and your borders, they can be present in your country,” Zelensky asserted.
A picture shows Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during the meeting with the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu on Jan. 12, 2021, in Kyiv. (president.gov.ua)
Of Biden and Ukraine
In the interview recorded just three days after the new U.S. presidential administration of Joe Biden taking power on Jan. 20, Zelensky also congratulated America’s new leader and wished him “achieve everything he promised the American people.”
“(Biden) said he did and will care and do anything for the sake of Europe’s security,” the Ukrainian president said.
“This is the most important thing to us since the security of Europe is about us, the war in Ukraine’s east, Russian aggression, and occupation of Crimea… I’d like the U.S. and personally President Biden who knows Ukraine well to actually help us solve this tragic situation.”
He reiterated Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO to ensure its security against the Russian threat, which aligns with Biden’s suggested pro-Euro-Atlantic policies.
When asked what question would he want to ask Biden, Zelensky said that it would be “Why isn’t Ukraine a NATO member yet?”
“Had Ukraine been a NATO nation, there wouldn’t be the (Russia’s military) escalation in Ukraine’s east).”
“I believe the would-be reply could be like: “Mr. President, we consider Ukraine a strategic partner. We understand that Ukraine now has a real strong military in Europe and is defending not only Ukrainians but also Europeans. So under my cadency, Ukraine must join NATO.” Or there could be another reply, but I’d want it to be candid.”
On Feb. 1, Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of Kyiv-based watchdog Anti-Corruption Action Center offered a sarcastic response to Zelensky’s rhetoric regarding Biden and NATO.
“I got a couple of tips for Zelensky to persuade Biden and his administration to help Ukraine in its moving towards NATO,” the activist wrote on his Facebook page.
“First, complete the SBU (security service) reform, and take away its alien functions of doing criminal investigations and combating economic crimes. Second, complete the judicial reform, relaunch the Supreme Council of Justice and eliminate the scandal-ridden Kyiv District Administrative Court.”
Both of these key reforms are being blocked by the SBU leadership or the Presidential Office, according to the activist.
“Both of these points are not only what international partners expect from Ukraine. They are also Volodymyr Zelensky’s electoral pledges. So I have a suggestion for the president: Just deliver your election promises. This would be the best argument for Biden to help Ukraine move toward NATO.”
Zelensky also commented on Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations’ Jan. 22, the decision to initiate two additional criminal proceedings on Biden’s alleged attempts to pressure former President Petro Poroshenko in 2015-2016.
According to call records published in May 2020 by lawmaker Andriy Derkach (who was later declared a Russian agent meddling in U.S. presidential election), then-Vice President Biden sought immunity for Burisma gas company, which paid Hunter Biden $50,000 monthly as a member of the board of directors, in exchange for $1 billion for Poroshenko.
Both Biden and Poroshenko denied the allegations. According to Zelensky, the criminal proceeding was initiated due to the fact that the alleged Poroshenko-Biden recordings had been made “at the working office of Ukraine’s president.”
“This is the main issue,” he said.
“Because this is the destruction of the presidential institution in Ukraine. So the criminal case was launched, and now our law enforcement is looking into this.”
He added though that he has no intention of playing any role in any criminal investigations regarding Biden or any related cases.
Zelensky, however, noted that he wanted a criminal inquiry regarding Ukrainian members of parliament accused of meddling in U.S. presidential elections. On Jan. 11, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Dubinsky, the notorious lawmaker with Zelensky’s 248-seat parliament faction who had accused Burisma of embezzlement in Ukraine, and several other Ukrainians.
The U.S. Department of Finance said the sanctioned Ukrainian individuals and entities were acting in Russian interests to compromise the Biden campaign.
Later, Zelensky reportedly urged Dubinsky to leave the parliamentary faction. “People need to stand responsible for what they do,” Zelensky said during the interview.
“Therefore there need to be initiatives to unseat lawmakers, expel them from the party. But we need to have the full list, even including those who had occupied very high positions before my presidency.”
He added he would “necessarily be invited by President Biden to the White House and will gladly accept such an invitation.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky enters the hall of the Verkhovna Rada during the session of the Ukrainian parliament on Oct. 20, 2020, in Kyiv. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Of the Normandy Format
Among the things that Biden could initiate regarding Ukraine’s diplomatic support, Zelensky wants the U.S. to join the so-called Normandy Four of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France, whose leaders have occasionally met to discuss the fate of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas since Russia’s invasion in 2014.
According to the Ukrainian leader, the talks have been stagnating due to Russian opposition, with no tangible results seen in a long while regarding the war settlement.
“I frankly told European leaders that if we go on with this format, it will, unfortunately, outlive its usefulness,” Zelensky said.
“So I wanted a powerful global player like the U.S. to render influence… I would really like to get President Biden involved in the Normandy talks. I am ready to do anything to strike an agreement with the U.S. president and the Normandy Four. I believe this can boost the talks.”
He also added that the Normandy talks during Poroshenko’s one-year term from 2014-2019 never included the question of Crimea, militarily seized by Russia and occupied to this day.
“I will never accept this,” he said, adding that had he been the president in early 2014, he would have repelled Russia’s invasion of Crimea at any price.
“We’d all die in Crimea but would not let ‘little green men’ (Russian unmarked troops) in. And Russia, therefore, would not render assistance to separatists (in Donbas) and would not get involved in Ukraine’s east.”
Of Budapest Memorandum and nuclear weapons
Upon that, Zelensky also had a say on the ill-fated Budapest Memorandum of 1994, as part of which Ukraine ceded its Soviet-time nuclear stockpile, the world’s third at the time, in exchange for “security assurances” of the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Russia.
With the outbreak of Russia’s war in 2014, the document has been fiercely criticized for the West’s failure to provide Ukraine with full-fledged defense capabilities against the Kremlin’s aggression, which, from some perspective, could be required by the agreement’s loosely formulated provisions.
“In general, I consider it the treason towards Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
“I believe this was a big mistake. Because any diplomatic agreement is dead and gone since the Budapest Memorandum is not observed. Whatever I sign up to, no matter what nation agree upon, there will always be a risk of someone saying that this is just some piece of paper that it is not obligatory.”
He added that even though “nuclear weapons is a really bad thing,” he, along with many in Ukraine, believes that a nuclear stockpile would have stopped Russia from the 2014 invasion.
But he added he would not try and resurrect Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and chief of staff Andriy Yermak (L) at a meeting on the government response to the coronavirus pandemic on May 18, 2020. Both contracted the novel coronavirus and recovered. (Press service of Ukrainian presi)
Of COVID-19 vaccination
Lastly, Ukraine’s president also complained about the lack of Western support in the COVID-19 vaccination. Meanwhile, this country is lagging far behind among European countries in terms of vaccine procurement and mass immunization.
“The fact that Ukraine is not a full-fledged European Union member is clearly indicated by vaccination timing (which is expected to be launched in February in Ukraine),” he said.
“We’re not a priority among nations to get the vaccine right away. The EU nations that have good relations with us… said they would be helping us. And they will really be giving us a share of their vaccines. But it will be difficult for them to explain this to their own people. It is a very unpleasant this to feel standing with a handout.”
But nonetheless, he added, Ukraine would not procure and use the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, which had been criticized for its failure to undergo all stages of clinical tests before being released for mass employment.
“It’s not even a question of “Made in Russia” written on it,” Zelensky said.
“The issue is that no one can guarantee the quality of this vaccine. And (Russians) are making use of the fact that the European vaccine comes too late to us, and they propose their own.”
According to the Ukrainian leader, Kyiv is contemplating its available options.
“There is Sinovac, one of the Chinese vaccines. We have AstraZeneca, Moderna. I know it’s more expensive, but Ukraine is choosing not the price but the timing. And we are unfortunately not in the vaccination’s first echelon. We’re somewhere in the tail, and I want Ukraine to be at least in the middle of the vaccine’s delivery terms.”
