Ukrainian first ladyOlena Zelenskais speaking out amid Russia’s ongoinginvasion of the country.
In anABC News interviewwhich aired onGood Morning AmericaThursday, Zelenska asked Americans to “not get used to this war.”
“Otherwise, we are risking a never-ending war and this is not something we would like to have,” she toldGMAco-hostRobin Roberts, 61, who traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, for the conversation. “Don’t get used to our pain.”
Zelenska also opened up about the “enormous support” Ukraine has received from around the world.
“It’s really important, because you feel you’re not alone,” she shared.
On Wednesday, President Joe Bidenannounceda security package that will allow the U.S. to “keep providing Ukraine with more of the weapons that they are using so effectively to repel Russian attacks.”
Zelenska said the country is grateful for the support but they still “hope and wait for more assistance to come.”
“I finally managed to see her face-to-face, and it was a tremendously courageous action that she has made,” she said. “She came to the country which is at war, and the people of Ukraine, they highly appreciated that.”
Zelenska also told Roberts that giving land to Russia is “like conceding a freedom.”
“Even if we would consider territories, the aggressor would not stop at that,” she explained. “He would continue pressing, he would continue launching more and more steps forward, more and more attacks against our territory.”
Amid the separation, she remains “proud” of her husband even if his decision to run for president was “unexpected.”
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“There’s one trait about Volodymyr that’s very important — he likes to change things around himself,” she shared. “And that’s why I clearly realized that there wouldn’t be anything even closely related to the word boring when you were staying with him.”
Zelenaska said she wants to “keep on working to do my own part in order to … get closer to our victory.”
“I realized that I have to be strong, that I have to be courageous, that I have to support him,” she said.
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. President Zelenskyy has called for peace talks — so far unsuccessfully — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
