Russian president has 'already started' World War III: Zelenskyy

LONDON

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has already started" World War Three and called for enhanced military and economic pressure to stop him.

"I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him," the Ukrainian president told the BBC in Kyiv during an interview that was published on Sunday.

Asked whether he sees Russia's demand for Ukraine to hand over the 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that it still holds as a "reasonable request" if it leads to a ceasefire, he noted that he doesn't look at it simply as land.

"I see it as abandonment—weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there. That is how I see it. And I am sure that this 'withdrawal' would divide our society."

Zelenskyy added: "I believe that stopping Putin today and preventing him from occupying Ukraine is a victory for the whole world. Because Putin will not stop at Ukraine."

The Ukrainian president also vowed to get all the land back, stressing that it is absolutely clear and "only a matter of time."

"To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people - millions of people - because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps. You would not have enough people; you would be losing them. And what is land without people? Honestly, nothing."

Pointing out the lack of weapons, he noted that it depends not just on Ukraine, but on its partners, and stressed that today the issue for them is air defense, which is "the most difficult problem."

"Unfortunately, our partners still do not grant licenses for us to produce systems ourselves, for example, Patriot systems, or even missiles for the systems we already have. So far, we have not achieved success in this."