Volodymyr Zelensky made the remark in an interview with US broadcaster NBC News on Thursday night.
He said in the interview that Russia was putting up a desperate fight to thwart Ukraine’s counteroffensive, but if the Kremlin loses this battle, it will ultimately lose the entire war, NBC News reported.
If Russia wins in Ukraine, it 'could move on to a neighbouring country'
Speaking to NBC News, Zelensky warned that if Russia overwhelmed Ukraine, it could move on to a neighbouring country that’s a NATO ally, risking “a wider world war” because of NATO members’ commitment to mutual defence, Polish state news agency PAP noted.
He said that a victory for Russia in Ukraine could ultimately force the United States to choose between the “collapse of NATO” or going to war.
'They will move on to the Baltic countries, to Poland'
Zelensky was asked in the interview about the US presidential campaign, in which former President Donald Trump has complained about the cost of American aid to Ukraine, and his Republican rival Ron de Santis described the war in Ukraine as “a territorial dispute” that America did not need to get "further entangled in," the PAP news agency reported.
Zelensky told NBC News that he believes the United States will not reduce military assistance to help his country fight the Russian invasion as such a move could pose “a big risk."
Referring to remarks made by Trump and de Santis, Zelensky said: “Are they ready to start a war to send their children? Are they ready to die? If Russia occupies Ukraine, they will move on to the Baltic countries, to Poland, to any NATO country, and in that particular case the US will have to choose between dismantling NATO or fighting.”
'Russia is fighting against the civilised world'
Zelensky also told the US broadcaster that news from the battlefields was "generally positive," but Russia's defensive effort was being made easier by a slow supply of new Western weapons such as fighter jets, the PAP news agency reported.
NBC News noted that training for Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets has already begun, as confirmed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday.
However, such training is likely to take many months and may come too late in Ukraine’s counteroffensive to challenge Russian dominance of the skies, according to NBC News.
"Ukraine wants to be able to compete in the air — let us do it today,” Zelensky said in the interview.
"It's not Ukraine against Russia, Russia is fighting against the civilised world,” he added.
Friday is day 478 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, nbcnews.com, thehill.com
