Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told him that Ukraine is ready to fight against russian aggression for another two to three years.
He said this in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Tusk said that Ukraine is concerned about the consequences of the war for the population and economy if it lasts longer than a few more years.
"I have no doubts Ukraine will survive as an independent state,” Tusk said. “Now the main question is how many victims we will see. President Zelensky told me [on Thursday] that he hopes that the war will not last ten years, but that Ukraine is ready to fight for another two, three years," Tusk said.
He noted that the war is also hurting the russian economy, which Tusk said "has no chance to survive" in the long run and is facing "dramatic" problems, compounded by new oil sanctions imposed by the United States.
At the same time, Tusk said he was not sure how "stable" US President Donald Trump's new punitive approach to russia would be.
"The Russians are in really deep trouble [economically]. it mean we can say we are winning? Not at all. They have one big advantage against the West, and Europe especially: they are ready to fight … in wartime, this is absolutely the crucial question. You have no chance to win if you are not ready to fight or at least to sacrifice something," he explained.
Tusk also warned the UK that it could no longer live under the "sweet illusion" that it would be spared a war between NATO and russia. He said he had been struck by the restrained public reaction in the UK after Keir Starmer told him during a joint visit to Kyiv in May that his former family home in Kentish Town, London, had been the target of a series of arson attacks allegedly organized by russian intelligence.
Recall that earlier Tusk said that no one should put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and instead emphasized the need for joint pressure on the aggressor state russia.
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