“We have chosen Europe. We want to defend democracy and our freedom. This is our horizon,” said the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with the Italian mediagiven ahead of the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Kiev.
Interviews with the Ukrainian leader are published on Monday by the main dailies: “Corriere della Sera”, “La Repubblica”, “La Stampa” and “Il Sole-24 Ore”. The interview was also broadcast by RAI television.
He then admitted: “I have come to the conclusion that we cannot change the Russian attitude. If they have decided to isolate themselves dreaming of rebuilding the former Soviet empire, there is nothing we can do about it. It is up to them to choose whether or not to cooperate with the community countries on the basis of mutual respect.
“When economic sanctions were introduced, there were those who accused us of isolating Russia, but that was not true. It was the decision to go to war that marginalized Putin,” the Ukrainian president said.