During the full-scale Russian war of invasion, the president has repeatedly held press conferences in a fairly open format for both Ukrainian and international journalists.
Recently, such press conferences have not taken place, but he has now once again received reporters from international media. The interviews took place on Saturday, but will be published on Sunday.
“Destroy our country”
His comments on an election come after the surprising statement from ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov about national elections.
"If we want to destroy our country in a time of war, we should move in that direction," Zelenskyy said.
It is the first time that the 48-year-old president has commented to the international press on Fedorov's remarks. Extensive protests in Ukraine have followed the decision to dismiss the popular Defence Minister Fedorov.
But Zelenskyy was asked a number of questions during the press conference, including about Ukrainian and Russian opportunities to use Elon Musk's company Starlink and its satellite system. Musk has decided to limit Russia's access to Starlink.
Own satellite system
Russia is constructing a counterpart to Starlink together with the Chinese - and they believe it could be ready by December 2026.
He adds that Ukraine is working on similar systems with “a European country.”
Zelenskyy suggests that Fedorov's contacts with the US regarding Starlink were part of Fedorov's forced resignation from the ministerial post. He also claims that Fedorov was offered four high-ranking positions, but turned them down.
The talks also touched on Ukraine's attacks deep inside Russian territory. Zelenskyy says the military is targeting launch pads for Russian missiles to try to stop Russian attacks.
Zero corruption issues
A direct reason is that the number of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles has decreased sharply. In 2023, Ukraine received 675 missiles. This year, Ukraine is expected to receive 264 Patriot missiles.
At the press conference, the Ukrainian president was also asked questions about the extensive efforts against corruption, where searches have been carried out against, among others, a deputy head of his office.
The anti-corruption unit had zero questions for me, Zelenskyy replies.
