Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg radio. But Ukrainian
Speaker 1: President Zelinsky renewing his pledge to retake all of the
Speaker 1: Russian controlled territory after Ukraine's recent advances. Russia's pop star
Speaker 1: Allah also joining her husband in protesting the wartelling social
Speaker 1: media followers that young Russian men were dying for illusory,
Speaker 1: excuse me, purposes. So there's been a lot of support, obviously,
Speaker 1: and it looks like they have made some progress in
Speaker 1: terms of pushback. Yeah, we're really pleased to have with
Speaker 1: us this afternoon Julia Mendel, former press secretary to Ukrainian
Speaker 1: president of Vladimir, Voladimir Zalinski. She's also the author of
Speaker 1: the book the fight of our lives. My time was Zolensky,
Speaker 1: Ukraine's battle for democracy and what it means for the world.
Speaker 1: Julia joins US this afternoon via zoom from New York City. Julia,
Speaker 1: good to have you with us. How are you, Carol Teams?
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us. So, uh, talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: when you were with President Zelinski because I think obviously
Speaker 1: a lot of people learned to get to know him,
Speaker 1: you know, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but you were
Speaker 1: with him in the earlier part of his term. Well,
Speaker 1: in my book the fight of our lives, I'm explaining
Speaker 1: how a person called him of Zelenski turned from a
Speaker 1: comedian into a statesman and from the statesman into the
Speaker 1: leader of the country in war. And in fact, I
Speaker 1: must tell you that a lot of people really underestimated
Speaker 1: him for the reason that his image of a comedian
Speaker 1: was so strong that it was the most popular. But
Speaker 1: in fact he is the lawyer by education and he
Speaker 1: built a very successful business in Ukraine, which is very
Speaker 1: difficult to do in post Soviet country which is under
Speaker 1: Russian pressure. I think that his leadership developed during those
Speaker 1: uh work to build this business. At the same time,
Speaker 1: I know him as a person who treats everything seriously,
Speaker 1: a very hard working person. That's why he drinks enormous
Speaker 1: cups of coffee, and also he is absolutely addicted to sports.
Speaker 1: What I noticed and he was going to the gym
Speaker 1: or for a jogging around the world and the TRIOPS,
Speaker 1: you know, starting his day before his uh political meetings
Speaker 1: from sports, and also he was even going jogging when
Speaker 1: we were traveling to Don busn, and this is the
Speaker 1: military zone, that uh, where Russia started its military actions
Speaker 1: back in twenty fourteen. So it sounds like Uliah that
Speaker 1: you're not surprised by the job he has done in
Speaker 1: facing Russia as a result of their, you know, war
Speaker 1: and their invasion of Ukraine. It sounds like um in
Speaker 1: many ways. None of this surprises you. I mean, because
Speaker 1: I do think initially you're right, people thought of him
Speaker 1: as a comedian and what kind of world leader was
Speaker 1: he going to was he going to be, certainly in
Speaker 1: the face of war? Um, I think you told us
Speaker 1: a lot of things that kind of surprised us. What
Speaker 1: else might really surprise us about this individual? Well, this
Speaker 1: is a very interesting question, because President Zelinski came to
Speaker 1: power promising to bring peace. You know, Russia first embaded
Speaker 1: Ukraine back in twenty fourteen by annex in Ukrainian Peninsula
Speaker 1: CRIMIA and by studying military actions in eastern region of
Speaker 1: Don Bas. So Zelinski was traveling a lot to don
Speaker 1: bass and I was traveling with him in the majority
Speaker 1: of his trips, and I'm telling a lot of stories
Speaker 1: from the strips, in my book, the fight of our lives,
Speaker 1: and it was very important to observe him during those
Speaker 1: trips because he never was actually afraid to go to
Speaker 1: the front lines just to handshake with the soldiers, and
Speaker 1: there were situations when Russians and pro Russian separatists were
Speaker 1: trying to shout Ukrainian frontline uh positions and Zelinsky was
Speaker 1: going uh there or returning back there, fighting his personal security.
Speaker 1: That did not allow the president to put his personal
Speaker 1: life under the threat. Zelenski was saying. As a leader,
Speaker 1: I need to be with my people and I need
Speaker 1: to show that I'm not afraid if they're they're fighting for,
Speaker 1: you know, for Ukraine, for Ukraine's territory, for Ukraine's independence.
Speaker 1: I just cannot run away, because he always repeats that
Speaker 1: politics must serve people. That's why I was not surprised
Speaker 1: that he stayed in Ukraine. I was actually surprised that
Speaker 1: he was offered to live the country and this famous phrase,
Speaker 1: phrase I need ammunition not to write. It's actually a
Speaker 1: big performance of Ukrainian nature, but it's also a big
Speaker 1: performance of his own leadership. I think Ukrainians, and I
Speaker 1: don't think I saw that Ukrainians surprised in his president
Speaker 1: and he made really one of the hugest contributions for
Speaker 1: Ukraine staying independent country by uniting Ukrainians and by uniting
Speaker 1: the whole civilized world to help Ukraine battle Russian invasion.
Speaker 1: I want to get right back to who we're talking with. Earlier,
Speaker 1: Juliam and a former press secretary to Ukraine President Zelinsky,
Speaker 1: also the author of the new book the fight of
Speaker 1: our lives. My time with Zelinsky Ukraine's battle for democracy
Speaker 1: and what it means for the world. Julia, good to
Speaker 1: have you with us, joining us, I should say, from
Speaker 1: New York City, so not too far from where we
Speaker 1: are right now. Before the break, we spoke a lot
Speaker 1: about your time with Zelinsky. What I want to hear
Speaker 1: about is your time over the last nine months and
Speaker 1: what it's been like living in Ukraine as it has
Speaker 1: been under siege by Russia, with Russia's invasion of the country. Um, what,
Speaker 1: what is? What do people need to know about your experience?
Speaker 1: Oh Wow, Tiam, thank you for this question and definitely
Speaker 1: I thought war. I prioritized, prioritized the experience of war,
Speaker 1: of Russian invasion in my book. A lot to show
Speaker 1: the people why it is important to send with Ukraine
Speaker 1: these days. I woke up, as many millions of Ukrainians,
Speaker 1: to the sound of bombs and missiles that Russia was
Speaker 1: sending to key and, Um, you know, I started calling
Speaker 1: immediately to everyone, my family who is now inoccupied territory,
Speaker 1: to my friends, learning that all the country was actually
Speaker 1: under this terrible shelling. And for us, as for Ukrainians,
Speaker 1: it is even now literally very difficult to believe in
Speaker 1: the fact that somebody is some country it can, can
Speaker 1: come to another independent country and repeat the horrors from
Speaker 1: the past, which is put in doing right now, because
Speaker 1: he's repeating from the horrors from the World War Two,
Speaker 1: from the artificial family period, from the genocidal practices. And
Speaker 1: on one hand, the recent events that were happening in
Speaker 1: my country, their successful counter offensives by Ukrainian army, they
Speaker 1: really bring a lot of Um celebration to Ukrainians because
Speaker 1: we we were waiting for this and we believe in
Speaker 1: Ukrainian army. On the other hand, my heart is bleeding
Speaker 1: for the reason of the news that we see there,
Speaker 1: all those mass graves, all those torture cells, all those
Speaker 1: dead kids. You know, females like terrorize society, and it's
Speaker 1: really very hard to imagine what we will reveal when
Speaker 1: we do occupy all other Ukraine. There is one point too,
Speaker 1: of million of Ukrainians that are right now situated under
Speaker 1: Russian occupations, and that's why we actually ask the world
Speaker 1: to stand with us as much as it's needed, because
Speaker 1: if we speak that there is a big support of Ukraine,
Speaker 1: then we need to say that it's never enough until
Speaker 1: we stopped Russia. This is the battle between democracy and autocracy,
Speaker 1: and democracy must be stronger, because we are dirtymined to
Speaker 1: return our land and our people, but also we are
Speaker 1: dirtymined to stand for democratic values, for the values that
Speaker 1: Ukrainians are sharing with the Western world. In terms of
Speaker 1: President Putin's intentions, what's the conversations they're on the ground
Speaker 1: in Ukraine um when it comes to what an ultimate goal,
Speaker 1: is an ultimate testainy destiny is? Is this it or
Speaker 1: is he looking to do even more? If you recall,
Speaker 1: the first goal of UH Putin was actually to Um
Speaker 1: capture all Ukraine, to conquer the country, to kill the
Speaker 1: leader of the country and to establish his puppet Um,
Speaker 1: and we see that he did not manage to achieve
Speaker 1: this goal, because there was underestimation of the president and
Speaker 1: underestimation of the Ukrainian people and our determination to to
Speaker 1: to be in this country and to defend this country, Ukraine.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, we are all, we were all
Speaker 1: today expecting his speech and we had the sources that
Speaker 1: we're saying that he was going to announce fast referenda.
Speaker 1: We see that established Russian Putin's uh so called authorities
Speaker 1: and occupied Ukraine. Now went out to say that we
Speaker 1: will conduct referenda U and everybody understands that this is
Speaker 1: going to be fake referender, as they already did back
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen with the Ukrainian peninsula premia. So the
Speaker 1: whole world went out saying that we are not going
Speaker 1: to recognize this referender. There was the United States, the
Speaker 1: European Union countries and even Turkey, who said their frienda
Speaker 1: are fake, and that's why, you know, Putin did not
Speaker 1: deliver his speech. So we are waiting for the next steps.
Speaker 1: What is more important, the Russian army is being defend
Speaker 1: defeated on the ground, and that's why they're show shooting
Speaker 1: missiles to civilian infrastructure, heating, schools, kindergardens, medical facilities, but
Speaker 1: also electricity and heating stations, and they threatened with nuclear disaster.
Speaker 1: This is the most important thing. We are afraid that
Speaker 1: Putin can use the latest measure, which is nuclear weapons. Well,
Speaker 1: help us understand you, you've been on the ground there,
Speaker 1: and how how this ends. I mean, I know it's
Speaker 1: fair to say that a lot of the world really
Speaker 1: underestimated the country, the country's army and the president of Ukraine,
Speaker 1: but but how do you see it ending? Well, that's
Speaker 1: an interesting question and definitely this is not the question
Speaker 1: towards me, but the issue is that this is, Um,
Speaker 1: the right a lot of steps that have been done
Speaker 1: to uh, actually help Ukrain win, uh, this fight for
Speaker 1: for our, you know, land and for our values, and
Speaker 1: what I see the apprainian leadership is going to do
Speaker 1: is to regain as much as possible of Ukrainian territories
Speaker 1: that Russia captured back after February twenty four. And then
Speaker 1: the winter will come and the winter is going to
Speaker 1: be very difficult for all the world, but for Ukrainians
Speaker 1: it's going to be more difficult, worse than for others,
Speaker 1: because Russia doesn't stop killing. But we believe that then
Speaker 1: we will need to make decisions how to move forward.
Speaker 1: The latest president the lands case announcement was that he
Speaker 1: doesn't exclude that probably Ukraine will need uh to return
Speaker 1: premier with the diplomatic means. So he probably probably believes
Speaker 1: that we will need to use military actions where it's possible,
Speaker 1: but if Russia agrees to leave the Ukrainian territory, then
Speaker 1: we will negotiate the fate of premium. Um, Yuliah, what
Speaker 1: are you hearing? We've just got about forty seconds here.
Speaker 1: I mean what's interesting and you know, unfortunately, because of
Speaker 1: this war, we all looked at Ukraine and what it
Speaker 1: was doing in terms of, you know, the technology world
Speaker 1: and information technology, and I think it's things we did
Speaker 1: not know. Um, now what we see is the devastation.
Speaker 1: Just got about thirty seconds left here. Um, the rebuild.
Speaker 1: That will take years, yes, and were Ukrainians are already
Speaker 1: rebuilding the territories, the homes, the infrastructure, different facilities. We are, like,
Speaker 1: very devoted people to this and we hope that we
Speaker 1: will start rebuilding in a more substantial way already when
Speaker 1: we can take Russian army to the closer to the borders. Right,
Speaker 1: of course, you know, we, we, we are looking forward
Speaker 1: to this. Well, we look forward to UH and and
Speaker 1: fingers cross that certainly this comes to a better outcome
Speaker 1: ultimately and comes to a resolution sooner rather than later.
Speaker 1: Um Juliah. Thank you so much. Julia Mandel, former press
Speaker 1: secretary to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Her book the fight of
Speaker 1: our lives, my time with Zelensky, Ukraine's battle for democracy
Speaker 1: what it means for the world, came out in one
Speaker 1: with the English version coming out this year.