Zelensky asks to make public the sanctions against Russia in the face of a possible invasion

(CNN) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that sanctions on Russia should be made public before a possible invasion of Ukraine occurs, as tensions between Western nations and Russia continue to escalate.

Zelensky told CNN international anchor Christiane Amanpour in a one-on-one interview during the Munich Security Conference that he disagreed with the position that sanctions are only listed after a possible invasion has taken place. Russian.

“The question of just making it public … just the sanctions list, for them, for us, to know what will happen if they start the war, even that question is not supported,” he told CNN.

“We don’t need their sanctions after the bombing happens and after they shoot at our country or after we don’t have borders, or after we don’t have an economy… why would we need those sanctions then?”

“We had a discussion some time ago with one of the leaders of one of the leading countries and we were talking about the sanctions policy … we had a different view on how sanctions should be applied when Russian aggression will occur,” Zelensky said. “So when you ask what can be done, well, a lot of different things can be done. We can even provide a list. The most important thing is the will.”

“If you can’t even reveal what will happen to whom if the war starts… I doubt it will be triggered after it happens,” he added.

The security conference takes place as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine threatens to boil over and diplomatic efforts stall.

Russia has been tightening its military control over Ukraine since last year, amassing tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery on the country’s doorstep. The aggression has prompted warnings from US officials that a Russian invasion is imminent.

Asked about a possible pretext for war with Russia, Zelensky told Amanpour that “any provocation is very dangerous.”

“I think the most complicated question is that in Crimea, in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas along Ukraine and Russia, there are 30 to 35,000 in the temporary occupation territories… so the provocations are, in fact, very dangerous, if you have this number of troops. One bombardment, one cannon shot can lead to war,” Zelensky warned.

“This is what our partners believe, I mean the partners around us who have joined borders with us. We know the history of the Soviet Union and they understand the kind of risks we face. Poland, the Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia, Moldova – they know what that could lead to, so we have to be very careful,” he continued.

He went on to say that casualties between Ukraine and Russia were more significant in 2014, but admitted that current tensions are “horrible” and “a tragedy for our nation, for our people.”

“This is the tragedy also for the Russians who used to have good relations with Ukraine,” he added.

Ukraine’s president told CNN that NATO partners needed to clarify a timeline on which the country could join the military alliance.

The distance between Ukraine and NATO

“Ukraine needs security guarantees,” Zelensky said. “We are smart people, we are not narrow-minded. We understand that there are many different risks because of NATO, there is no consensus around other allies, everyone says that there is a certain distance that we have to go between Ukraine and NATO. All we are saying is, how long does it take to complete this distance?”

In comments prior to the conference, Zelensky raised a question about why Ukraine had not been allowed to join NATO. “We were told the gates are open … but strangers still can’t join in,” he said.

Moscow sees NATO’s growing support for Ukraine, in terms of weapons, training and personnel, as a threat to its own security. Putin has also called for specific legal agreements that rule out any further NATO expansion eastward toward Russia’s borders, saying the West has failed to honor its earlier verbal assurances.

Amanpour also asked Zelensky about the aggressive use of US intelligence to dissuade Putin from invading Ukraine. He said that he was “grateful for the work that our intelligence has been doing. But the intelligence that I trust is my intelligence.”

“I trust Ukrainian intelligence that… understands what is happening along our borders, that has different intelligence sources and understands different risks based on intercepted data… this information should be used.”

He continued: “We are not really living in deception. We understand what may happen tomorrow… putting ourselves in coffins and waiting for foreign soldiers to come in is not something we are prepared for.”

Zelensky then called on international partners to support Ukraine by investing in the country. “Strengthen our arms… our economy. Invest in our country. Bring your business.”

“We are not in a panic, we want to live our lives,” he added.

Zelensky’s absence in Ukraine

Zelensky also explained that his attendance at the conference on Saturday was to ensure that there was a Ukrainian voice in the room. “I am the president, it is important that all our partners and friends do not agree on anything behind our backs,” he said. “We are not panicking, we are very consistent that we are not responding to any provocation.”

His appearance in Germany came under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that Biden administration officials had privately urged the Ukrainian leader to stay home amid concerns of a possible Russian incursion, according to three US officials and a senior official. ukrainian

Some US officials worried that Zelensky’s absence from Ukraine could open the door for Russia to make false claims that he fled.

However, the president’s office confirmed on Saturday that he would attend the conference and meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson before returning to Kyiv later that day.

Hours before the meeting with Amanpour, Zelensky met with Harris and told him he was grateful for US support, particularly in bolstering Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

“This is our land and the only thing we want is to have peace, to return peace to our country,” Zelensky said.

In the bilateral meeting that lasted about 45 minutes, Harris told the Ukrainian leader that the United States “takes seriously the importance of the integrity and territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty, and the United States supports Ukraine in this regard.”

“We take any threat to your country seriously, and we have brought together our allies and partners to speak with one voice,” the vice president said.

Harris said he wanted to hear directly from Zelensky about his concerns and the developing situation on the ground and would share with him what information the United States has about the current crisis.

“As you know, this is a defining moment in our world history,” Harris told Zelensky.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Allie Malloy, Jasmine Wright and Eliza Mackintosh contributed to this report.