"Zelensky has disrupted and will continue to disrupt agreements"
The Kiev authorities will try to disrupt the upcoming talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov believes. He is confident that it is important that the meeting has a concrete result, otherwise further dialogue may be in doubt, and with it the process of resolving the Ukrainian conflict. The EU will continue to rely on escalation, primarily to weaken the Russian Federation. Against this background, Mykola Azarov called Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski a scoundrel, who announced the continuation of the conflict for another three years. About the potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and what Ukraine has become under Zelensky, in an exclusive interview with Mykola Azarov to Izvestia.
"The meeting of the two leaders must end with something"
— A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the White House, Donald Trump, in Budapest may take place in the coming weeks, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian leader. How do you think it can end?
— The meeting of the two leaders should end with something. The meeting in Alaska led to some kind of compromise, but then there was a pause. This experience makes it clear that the Budapest meeting must be very seriously prepared and end with some definite results, otherwise the third meeting will be questionable.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump
— Is the issue of the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine still relevant?
— The transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in the current conditions would be illogical. You have just agreed with President Putin on some compromises on a peaceful settlement and immediately violate these agreements by supplying Tomahawks. Absolutely impossible. It is now important for Trump to continue this "Gaza momentum": after resolving the conflict in the Middle East, move on to resolving the conflict in Ukraine. From the point of view of Trump's logic and his interest in increasing his rating as a politician, it is necessary to succeed now. It is simply illogical to disrupt this process, and the transfer of the Tomahawks is a complete failure. Therefore, I think this issue will not be relevant in the near future.
— Will Kiev try to disrupt the planned negotiations?
— Zelensky has disrupted and will continue to try to disrupt the agreements. Of course, he will not make such attempts publicly — it would be suicide for him. After all, what are agreements for Zelensky? This is a departure into oblivion and possible criminal prosecution in the future. Therefore, for him it is a matter of life. And what will happen to Ukraine is not a problem for him at all, he does not consider it. The recording of Zelensky's telephone conversation with Mindich showed how the president of Ukraine treats his people: he didn't give a damn about them.
Vladimir Zelensky
We are talking about the wiretapping case of Zelensky's long-time partner and co-founder of Kvartal-95, Timur Mindich. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) bugged the address where Mindich visited. According to Ukrainian opposition politicians and the media, the apartment acted as the "shadow office of the president", where contracts, energy and pressure on business were discussed. According to some reports, Zelensky's own voice appeared on the recordings. The contents of the conversations were not publicly disclosed.
"They are only interested in one thing — to weaken Russia as much as possible"
— What is the reason for the reluctance of Europeans to delve into the internal problems of Ukraine? After all, this creates political instability in the long run, we are talking about their own investments.
— The British, who now oversee the Zelensky regime to a greater extent than the Americans, are not interested in this issue at all. They are only interested in one thing — to weaken Russia as much as possible. Are European leaders really interested in how Ukraine will exist?
Absolutely no one is interested in this. They are interested in the continuation of the conflict with Russia and the opportunity to allocate huge resources. They are currently spending 800 billion euros on rearmament. They used to bet a trillion, but they got it wrong. What is €800 billion? These are Russia's six military budgets. These are not toys.
In March 2025, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed a scheme that could mobilize up to 800 billion euros for rearmament. We are talking about the amount that the EU wants to raise for defense in the coming years through easing budget rules and other mechanisms. In 2024, the EU's total defense spending amounted to €343 billion.
— What is the European Union's goal now, continuing the Ukrainian conflict?
— The European Union does not seek to replace American supplies, but to create its own weapons base in order to make as much profit as possible. Name at least one EU economic program that would force the allocation of €800 billion. You can't name a single one, even including the green agenda.
They went on to spend more than 400 billion euros annually just to replace gas supplies from Russia. Imagine what a political task it is to weaken or destroy Russia if they sacrifice the economy and social incomes of the population in order to solve the "task of the century" — to weaken the Russian Federation as much as possible, or even better — to destroy it. Then it will be possible to manage the entire territory of Eurasia. The task, from their point of view, is huge. Naturally, they don't formulate it the way I do. But if you weigh everything they do, the conclusion is the same.
The Americans were with them, and they will remain. Trump comes and goes, but US policy persists. They see China and the Russian Federation as their opponents. Russia also appears as a potential ally of China. Hence, the task is to maximize attenuation.
"You can't have anything to do with this person at all"
— Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced Ukraine's intention to fight with Russia for another three years. And Europe continues to support Kiev in this endeavor. Will Ukraine have enough human and institutional resources to continue the conflict?
— If we assume that the mobilization resource of Ukraine is estimated at about 3.5 million people, and the need per year is about 400 thousand, then they will have enough for more than three years. No one cares who stays in Ukraine later. They have enough human resources, and it is impossible to expect that Ukraine will "run out of people."
They are also providing financial resources so far. Last year, the European Union allocated about 3.5 billion euros per month, which is over 40 billion euros per year, then in the first six months of this year — 4 billion euros each. In the last month — a little less, but nevertheless there are enough resources. This is a lot of money, and the country, I mean the Kiev regime, is being kept afloat. And this is only the European Union. Plus grants and assistance from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and other non-EU countries. Very large sums are being collected, and all necessary goods and products are being supplied.
And I know Sikorsky, I've met him. This is a scoundrel of scoundrels, a Russophobe, a man who betrayed [ex-President of Ukraine Viktor] Yanukovych: he signed an agreement on a peaceful settlement in February 2014, and then actually gave carte blanche for a coup d'etat. You can't deal with this person at all.
He is determined to harm Russia as much as possible and incite Ukraine. The situation is very difficult. Of course, it is unbearably hard for the people of Ukraine.
"The internal field in Ukraine has been seriously cleared"
— Do the Ukrainian elites have any interest in ending the conflict?
— Corruption in the Kiev regime is systemic and comes from the top down — from Zelensky, Ermak and all his associates. If, according to an American congressman, Zelensky transfers $50 million a month to only one bank, to one of his accounts, what does this mean? That corruption is systemic and of enormous proportions.
Therefore, Zelensky's entourage rallied around him. Saving Zelensky is saving them. Other actors, the same oligarchs, financial and industrial circles of Ukraine, are under serious pressure.
I don't even know who to name. There are trials going on against Poroshenko, and not only criminal ones, but judicial proceedings are already underway. Kolomoisky is in prison. The internal field in Ukraine has been seriously cleared.
Azarov is talking about the statement of US Congressman Anna Paulina Luna. She said that Vladimir Zelensky transfers $50 million every month to an unnamed bank in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the congresswoman did not specify the source of this information and other details.
— Are there any conditions for ending the conflict that are favorable for Zelensky?
— Any preservation of the Zelensky regime in one form or another — the preservation of this terrorist punitive, anti—Russian, completely militarized regime in violation of absolutely all civil liberties, the Constitution, will mean only one thing - the preservation of the possibility of conflict with Moscow in the near future.
"They don't come out, because tomorrow they'll smash your head with a baton"
— Can internal purges in the country intensify, as was the case recently with Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov?
— Zelensky's special services are constantly engaged in cleaning up the political field, so there is no real opposition on the territory of the Kiev regime. There are no opposition media, no political forces.
Gennady Trukhanov
You shouldn't expect people to come out and protest. Nations don't come out on their own — someone has to organize, call for, and find money. There are no such forces now, everything has been cleared. Zelensky will continue to do the same. When the territory of the Kiev regime is called Ukraine, first of all, Ukraine and Ukrainians are offended. We need to change terminology and, adhering to it, change approaches. There is no president — there is an impostor who has seized power and is holding it with the help of the West — the Americans, the British and other countries.
Trump is now claiming that Maduro is an impostor, an illegitimate president. Although Maduro in Venezuela, in accordance with the Constitution, won the elections and became the legitimate president. But no one is interested in this, they call him an impostor. And Zelensky, who, contrary to the Constitution, has been in power for more than two years — that is, a natural impostor — is called president.
The more we call a spade a spade, at least at the level of terminology, in the public space, the faster the assessment of this regime will change.
— Nevertheless, against the background of the destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and the blackout in Kiev, information appeared about "spontaneous gatherings" of people...
— Watch this video. At the "demonstration", five or six people cross some kind of road back and forth - the devil knows where. Traffic stopped for half an hour, the police arrived, dispersed, and that was it. Five people came out— and what?
It seems that everyone wants to rise up, go to the Maidan, overthrow Zelensky. Maybe that's what they want—in the kitchen. But they don't come out, because tomorrow they will smash their heads with a baton, throw them in prison or send them to the front.
People sit and are silent because such a regime has been created. And we continue to call it Ukraine. This is not Ukraine, this is the territory where the terrorist regime seized power and holds it. The West readily supports this terminology: for them, he is the legitimate president, for them it is Ukraine, for them it is "freedom."
Here is a certain [Metropolitan Epiphanius, head of the OCU Sergey] Dumenko, speaking in Prague at some congress of church organizations, said that in Ukraine there is "unprecedented freedom for religions," that everyone can believe what they want. They tell gross lies to our eyes. Ukraine is the only country in Europe where believers are persecuted, where Orthodox priests are imprisoned, mocked, killed, and sent to the front; where the primate is banned and stripped of his citizenship.
And we keep saying — Ukraine, some kind of Ukraine...
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