Exclusive: Zelensky calls Putin ‘weak’ and says Russian President’s power is ‘crumbling’
cnn: Editor’s Note: Erin Burnett’s full interview with Volodymyr Zelensky airs Wednesday July 5 at 7 p.m. ET.
Vladimir Putin’s response to the armed Wagner rebellion was “weak” and the Russian President is losing control of his own people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN in an exclusive interview.
Putin faced the greatest threat to his authority in two decades last month when the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a short-lived uprising, claiming control of military facilities in two Russian cities and marching toward Moscow before he agreed to stand down.
“We see Putin’s reaction. It’s weak,” Zelensky told CNN’s Erin Burnett in Odesa, in an interview taped on Sunday.
“Firstly, we see he doesn’t control everything. Wagner’s moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn’t control the situation in the regions.”
“All that vertical of power he used to have is just crumbling down.”
Some Russians cheered on Wagner fighters as Prigozhin led the unprecedented challenge to Putin’s authority. Video geolocated and verified by CNN showed crowds cheering as the Wagner boss’ vehicle departed the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24.
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence reports showed the Kremlin was measuring support for Prigozhin, and he claimed that half of Russia supported the Wagner boss and the paramilitary group’s mutiny.
The interview with Zelensky comes at a critical time – not only in the wake of Prigozhin’s failed insurrection, but also weeks into Ukraine’s slow push to recapture territory occupied by Russia.
That effort has come under intense scrutiny from Western allies and on Saturday a US official told CNN the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Bill Burns, had visited Kyiv recently and met with Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence officials.
Zelensky told CNN he was “surprised” to see his meeting with Burns reported in the media. “My communication with the CIA chief should always be behind the scenes,” he said. “We discuss important things – what Ukraine needs and how Ukraine is prepared to act.”
Burns, a veteran diplomat, has become a trusted interlocutor in Kyiv, and has made several trips to Ukraine during the war.
“We don’t have any secrets from CIA, because we have good relations, and our intelligence services talk with each other,” Zelensky said.
“The situation is pretty straightforward. We have good relations with the CIA chief and we are talking. I told him about all the important things related to the battlefield which we need.”
Burns traveled to Kyiv before Prigozhin’s rebellion, which was not a topic of discussion, the US official told CNN.
Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv Saturday, Zelensky said Prigozhin’s rebellion had “greatly affected Russian power on the battlefield” and could be beneficial to Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
While the thrust of Kyiv’s efforts have focused on recapturing territory in the south and east of Ukraine, Zelensky told Burnett that his ultimate goal was to liberate Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law.
“We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And while Crimea is under the Russian occupation, it means only one thing: the war is not over yet,” he said.
Asked whether there was any scenario under which there could be peace without Crimea, Zelensky said: “It will not be victory then.”
CNN’s Gul Tuysuz contributed to this story.
Azerbaijan hosts World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue
01 May 2024 / 13:38
63 people detained during Tbilisi protest
01 May 2024 / 13:32
Armenia’s Pashinyan spills water on his desk, clothes to explain what he is doing in Tavush Province
30 April 2024 / 13:25
Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs to meet in Kazakhstan
29 April 2024 / 13:40
Aram I: Mr. Erdogan, our ancestors were massacred by your ancestors, don't try to oppose diaspora to Armenia
24 April 2024 / 14:20
Azerbaijan and Armenia start border delimitation process
23 April 2024 / 11:38
Armenia premier: Our society asks why we continue to be member state of CSTO?
23 April 2024 / 11:30
Ilham Aliyev on his way to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin
22 April 2024 / 10:39
German Foreign Ministry reacts to agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on border delimitation
22 April 2024 / 10:32
Is Pashinyan going to attend Putin's inauguration?
17 April 2024 / 14:40
Russian peacekeepers’ pulling out from Nagorno-Karabakh has begun, Kremlin confirms
17 April 2024 / 14:34
Tokayev: Kazakhstan ready to offer platform for Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations
15 April 2024 / 13:37
U.S. refuses to join Israel in retaliatory action against Iran
15 April 2024 / 11:33
Olivier Decottignies: France is providing Armenia military gear everyone’s desperate to get
09 April 2024 / 13:58
Ruben Vardanyan nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
08 April 2024 / 13:48