Giving up nuclear weapons was a raw deal, Putin cannot fully occupy Ukraine, and European security is impossible without four non-EU countries - Britain, Ukraine, Turkey and Norway. That was the message from President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, published on April 10.
As Hvylya reports, Zelensky's remarks were posted in five parts on his official social media channels.
Zelensky called the Budapest Memorandum "a great mistake" - not just Ukraine's, but also the mistake of the other signatories. "I believe NATO membership is the least that Ukraine's leaders should have received in exchange for the nuclear arsenal. What did we get? Nothing. It was an unfair game and a great mistake," he said. Much of the nuclear weaponry was handed over to Russia, including strategic bombers now being used against Ukraine in this war.
On the battlefield, Zelensky said Putin understands he cannot fully occupy Ukraine. Russia has suffered enormous losses and lacks properly trained personnel. A full takeover of Donbas alone would cost between 300,000 and one million lives - "a huge price even for Putin."
That is why Moscow is trying to push Ukraine out of Donbas diplomatically, through talks with Washington. Zelensky warned this would be catastrophic: a withdrawal would split the nation. Putin would use the pause to recruit, rebuild his military-industrial base, and push for sanctions relief. Then - a new blitzkrieg.
The president said he offered US partners three tests to verify Putin's true intentions. First, arrange a leaders' meeting to discuss territories. Putin refused. Second, propose deploying American and European troops along the contact line. Putin's answer: "No foreign military." Third, consider the logic: Russia has 17 million square kilometers, 70% of them underdeveloped, yet demands another 5,800 square kilometers of Donbas.
"That is not his goal," Zelensky stressed. Donbas is a strategic position. Once Russia takes the region's industrial cities and fortifications, only open fields and straight roads to Ukraine's regional capitals remain.
Separately, Zelensky addressed the future of European security. If the United States seriously considers leaving NATO, the continent's defense will rest entirely on the EU - but not in its current form. He named four countries Europe needs: Britain, Ukraine, Turkey and Norway. Together, the armies of Britain, Ukraine and Turkey are stronger than Russia's. Without Ukraine and Turkey, Europe cannot match Moscow.
"Security comes first, and the economy comes second. Not the other way around," Zelensky said.