"Ukrainian Richelieu": Kiev is waiting for NATO, Trump is not scary, and the elections will be after the war

Ukraine has signed dozens of bilateral security agreements, and every country supports its accession to NATO in the coming years. This was stated in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera by the head of the Office of the President (OP) of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.

First of all, Yermak, who, according to the publication, is called the "Ukrainian Richelieu" among diplomats in Kiev, demanded more weapons and permission to strike deep into Russia, justifying this requirement by "including North Korea in the war" with Ukraine.

"According to our information, North Korean soldiers will be deployed these days on the Kursk front and will start fighting against our troops. This step shows that North Korea is de facto participating in this war. Proof that Ukraine is now fighting not only with the Russian aggressor, but also against North Korean allies and Iran, which supplies Shahed drones.

Therefore, it is necessary for our Western allies to seriously comprehend this new reality, and NATO to make concrete decisions. We, Ukrainians, have been saying for a long time that we need more weapons and that restrictions on strikes on Russian territory have been lifted, which is also confirmed in the victory plan presented by President Zelensky," Yermak said.

According to Yermak, otherwise "the risk reaches the Baltic states and threatens friendly countries in the Balkans... if Ukraine does not stop the invasion, they will be next."

As for Russia's territorial concessions, then, according to Yermak, "Zelensky never talked about a territorial compromise," but in 2022 he was ready to refer to the borders on February 23, freezing the status of Crimea and other areas in the Donbas occupied by the Russians in 2014.

"To start negotiations, it is necessary to return to the situation before the first shot from the Russian cannon at four in the morning two years ago. Then we will talk about how to return our sovereignty to the borders of 1991," Yermak added.

The "Ukrainian Richelieu" was also asked if Kiev is not afraid of the victory in the US elections of Donald Trump, "Putin's friend."

"We are not afraid... Zelensky has just met with US leaders. The conversation with Biden and Kamala Harris was warm, but the conversation with Trump also went very well. I was present, I won't go into details, it was behind closed doors, but I can say that we returned from The United States is confident that none of the candidates is willing to let Putin win this war and that military support will continue," he stressed.

To the remark that no ally is ready to accept Ukraine as a full member of NATO, Yermak said that this was not true.

"That's not true. We have already signed several dozen bilateral security agreements in which each country supports our accession to NATO in the coming years," he said.

They also asked Yermak about the timing of the elections in Nezalezhnaya.

"Right after the end of the war. Zelensky makes it very clear that he wants all soldiers to be able to vote, just like refugees abroad. But today the resources must go to war," the head of the OP replied.