No country provided Ukraine with specific intelligence data about Russian invasion – Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that despite the warnings of partners about the future Russian invasion, no one provided Ukraine with specific intelligence information about the Russian offensive.
Source: Financial Times
Details: Zelenskyy has said that despite public warnings from Western officials, Kyiv was not provided with intelligence about the approaching Russian invasion.
Quote from Zelenskyy: "Nobody showed us specific material saying it would come from this or that direction."
Details: Zelenskyy says that he repeatedly tried to call Vladimir Putin before the invasion on 24 February.
Zelenskyy wanted to tell Putin that this would be "a great mistake, a great tragedy," but the Russian leader did not answer his calls.
"We are fighting against insane people," Zelenskyy said about the Russian leadership.
The Ukrainian president believes that the country must liberate all its territories from Russian occupation, otherwise the war will simply resume later.
However, the success of Ukraine's counteroffensive will depend on how much of the cutting-edge weapons the allies and, first of all, the United States, are willing to provide.
The Financial Times believes that the interests of Kyiv and the West may diverge: "Death, destruction and anger over Russian war crimes have hardened Ukrainian public opinion against compromises with Moscow."
In particular, some allies fear that Ukraine's attempt to retake Crimea could lead to a dangerous escalation by Putin, possibly involving the use of nuclear weapons.
There are already weak calls for negotiations with Russia, calls that Zelenskyy rejects: "The world is not a doctor with extensive experience, it is not Putin's doctor, and Putin is not a patient of this world."
Diplomats who have followed Zelenskyy's presidency say he distrusts Western reasoning and still fears that his country could be betrayed and abandoned.
For example, Western officials have sometimes found that agreements negotiated in private were immediately shared on social media by the president or his staff, leaving the partners no chance to back out.
Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
