KYIV, Ukraine (NewsNation) — Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler, warning that we are “already in a third world war.”
In an exclusive interview on “Banfield,” Honcharuk said he believes this is just the beginning but that Ukraine won’t back down.
“Putin will try to destroy all democratic, and all free countries, and all free neighbors. Until we will stop him.”
The former prime minister said the reason Putin started the war wasn’t to take over territories or solve a conflict.
“The real reason why Putin attacked Ukraine is to solve (the) ‘Ukrainian question’ like Hitler wanted to solve the ‘Jewish question.’
“It’s not about Zelenskyy, it’s about all our nation. All Ukrainians are ready to fight till the end. And Putin miscalculated. He thought that Ukrainians will be scared, and will not fight, and we’ll let him take control over our capital, kill our president, and destroy our state, but he failed.”
Newly Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk (R) speaks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) listens, during a meeting of Ukrainian President with the leadership of Government, Parliament and law enforcement in the Presidential Administration in Kiev, Ukraine, on 2 September, 2019. (Photo by STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Ukraine is a peaceful but free nation. During all our history, we have been fighting for our freedom for hundreds of years. That’s why we understand very well that if we don’t fight we will become slaves. We are not slaves, we are free people.”
Members of the Ukrainian Parliament are still carrying on in-person meetings, despite safety concerns.
Honcharuk says that despite the risk, and rumors that Russians are preparing chemical weapons, Ukraine won’t back down.
“Nobody is safe in Kyiv now. Nobody. Putin is a crazy strong man. They are ready to kill thousands of people. They are ready to totally destroy cities.”
Key figures a world away, American President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, spoke for nearly two hours on Friday as the White House looked to deter Beijing from providing military or economic assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Honcharuk says it’s not enough.
“Thank you to all your American people, and, of course, to the president of United States. But it’s not enough. What we really see is that the Western leaders are scared. They are scared by Mr. Putin. And this is a problem. Because what Ukraine really needs is to have direct military support from NATO.”
Honcharuk is hopeful Biden will find the correct language and strategy to keep China out of Ukraine.