On 14 July, US President Donald Trump gave his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin another 50 days to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. He threatened to implement the secondary taf on Russia’s trading partners, if he failed to make Ceaaseefire physical. DW spoke to Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Clitsco about what he thinks of Ukraine to protect himself and today faces the challenges of the Ukrainian capital.
DW: Sri Clitsko, Donald Trump has given Vladimir Putin a new time limit and also opened the possibility of supplying Ukraine with new weapons. What is your assessment of the proposals of the US President?
Vitali Clitsco: I do not understand why they have been given 50 days now. During 50 days, Russian strength can be assembled. During 50 days, Russians can kill even more citizens. I am confident that hard restrictions are to be imposed, as it will act as a preventive.
I believe that we should also use this period. We believe that during 50 days we will be able to follow modern weapons than our colleagues, which we paint. And we are grateful to our colleagues.
I assured that Putin only understands the language of force. He respects those who are strong and do not care about the weak. So we should be strong. Only together, and by joining the forces, we can be strong. We are country on our colleagues for more support, hard restrictions and weapons supply.
So Trump promised additional weapons including the new Patriot air defense system. You earlier said that Kyiv is protected by only two search systems. Russia’s most recent attacks, which included hundreds of drones and missiles, are an indication that air defense is inadequate. What additional security does Kiva require?
I am currently not ready to explain how many patriotic and other air defense systems we have. One thing I can say is that when the war is over, we will only be able to say “enough”. Today, our cities in Ukraine and other cities are constantly for joint attacks. Air defense is an important challenge for every city – not only the capital.
‘Today in Ukraine, everyone is risking their lives’
More impact is required to deal with the results of massive attacks last week …
How can we deal with those results when more than 30 people lost their lives last week? They cannot be brought back. The buildings have been destroyed, and it will take months, perhaps years to rebuild them. We are trying our best to help all those who need help but our resources are limited. I openly admit that despite modern technology and weapons, we will not be able to fully guarantee the safety of all in the capital and other cities of Ukraine if the thesis is going on massive attacks. Today in Ukraine, everyone is risking their lives. A drone strike can occur in any moment and new victims. This is why every Ukrainian has only one desire, and a question: when will it happen?
We hope that the war will be able to end the war through diplomatic means. But let’s be honest. The diplomatic route does not correspond to Putin, or even many Ukrainians. We will never do that the part of Ukraine, currently occupied by Russia, is no longer Ukrainian. This is our country, our state, which we are defending. It is very difficult to agree to leave the share of our region. Yes, it will be a so -called “compromise” but still …
Russia wants to ‘spread nervousness’
How will you assess the total damage on Kiev since Russia’s full -scale invasion? Do you have any figure?
More than 1,600 residential buildings have been destroyed. More than 300 citizens have killed bees. The total number of destroyed buildings is around 3,000. There has been destruction in all the districts of the city. I have asked myself this important question more than once: What is the matter of attacking a peaceful city and killing peaceful people? To destroy important infrastructure, to deprive electricity, water and heating? I have thought about this long and difficult. The only answer is: To spread nervousness, to trigger depression and flare into people so that they all pack their bags, go somewhere in Europe, leave the country, and leave it to the attacker. There is no one else of this question.
How is reconstruction progressing in Kyiv? Where does the money come from?
This is mainly money from the city budget. We apply to find from the state budget. For example to rebuild the destroyed building. If the disadvantage is so broad that people cannot live anywhere, we pay their rent. We provide assistance whey kindergartens and schools have been destroyed, and more than 200 educational features have been destroyed so far. Children should go to school, and the local budget will have to shoulder the cost, which is a lot of money. Now we are creating air-pilgrimage shelters, something that we have never done before-War has forced us to do so. Of course, the situation is difficult. The economy is not working, logistics infrastructure has been destroyed, and laboratory is lacking for reconstruction, as hundreds of thousands of people have been chosen to protect the country. We face many challenges, the largest of which is the restoration of the lifestyle system.
The interview was conducted by Olga Tikhomirova. The transcript was translated from German.
