“I think he will do it,” Zelensky said in English when asked if he was aware of any plans for a US presidential visit. “But it’s his decision, of course [it] depends of course on the security situation. “But I think he’s the leader of the United States and that’s why he has to come here to see.” Biden told reporters Thursday that the United States would soon decide whether to send a senior official to Ukraine as a sign of support, but sources told Reuters that the government was considering Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin or Secretary of State Anthony Blink. Zelensky’s comments came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s surprise visit to Kyiv last weekend. On Friday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in an interview that Biden had no scheduled visit. Zelensky, who spoke to the news channel on Friday in an interview broadcast on Sunday, turned his attention to the impending Russian attack in the Donbas region in the east of the country, which is likely to become a brutal and decisive phase of the war after the retreat. of Russia from areas around Kyiv in the north. Zelensky said Ukraine would not hand over territory to the east of the country to end the war with Russia. “That is why it is very important for us not to allow them to stand in our place, because this battle… could affect the course of the whole war,” Zelensky said. There are about 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbass region and he acknowledged the possibility of multiple battles in an unknown time period. “I do not trust the Russian army and the Russian leadership; the fact that we fought them and they left and left Kyiv, the north, Chernihiv; does not mean that if they are able to occupy Donbas, they will not move further towards Kyiv. “, Said Zelensky. Zelensky welcomed the additional $ 800 million in military aid approved by the White House last week, but urged the United States and its allies for more weapons and faster delivery. “Of course we need more. “But I’m glad he’s helping us now,” Zelensky told CNN. “I feel that we are having a clearer dialogue right now. It was a dialogue that had some twists and turns. And not just to talk. “It was very, very difficult because there are not many countries that have really helped us.” The Ukrainian president also reiterated fears that Russian forces could develop chemical or regular nuclear weapons in Ukraine. “It’s not just me, the whole world, all countries have to worry – why [use of nuclear weapons] it may not be true information, but it may be true. “ “Chemical weapons… could do, for them, human life, nothing. That’s why, “said Zelensky. “We have to think not to be afraid, not to be afraid but to be ready. “But this is not an issue for Ukraine, not just for Ukraine but for the whole world, I think.” Zelensky estimated the death toll in the Ukrainian army at between 2,500 and 3,000, adding that about 10,000 others have been injured so far “and it is difficult to say how many will survive.” He claimed that Russia had lost up to 20,000 troops, which has not been confirmed.
