Zelensky exclusive: Threat from ‘Putin the Nazi’ outweighs pain of rising energy bills

Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to talk about Boris Johnson in the past tense.

Breaking into a broad grin as he recounts one of the last conversations he had with the British prime minister during his third and final visit to Kyiv last month, the Ukrainian president says: “He is an energetic person. I told him, ‘You can’t disappear’, and he said, ‘I will not’.”

A deep bond has been forged between Zelensky and Johnson, who allies claim has not ruled out a return to No 10 after he leaves this week.

Under Johnson, Britain was one of the first nations to donate weapons to Ukraine as the countdown to the Russian invasion began last winter. While nervous European leaders dawdled, Johnson led the pack to become an early cheerleader for punitive sanctions by a western alliance including the UK, the United States and the European Union.

During a trip to Kyiv last month, Johnson announced an extra £54 million in military support — bringing the total to £2.3 billion. He was awarded Ukraine’s Order of Liberty — the highest recognition that can be bestowed upon foreign nationals. Zelensky, 44, made the presentation himself.

He admits he has grown fond of the British prime minister since Vladimir Putin invaded in February. “Boris played a significant role. He did a lot,” Zelensky told The Sunday Times in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview.

“From the very beginning he was on our side. I never saw any hesitation or doubts in our conversations about his support for the Ukrainians.”

Johnson’s support came “not only with words, but with deeds”. “I remember there were moments, frankly, when we needed weapons and the UK didn’t have these weapons and Johnson helped by speaking to other countries and speeding up the supply of these weapons to Ukraine,” Zelensky says. “He did that. So he is one of those leaders who had an impact on making Europe unified in its support to Ukraine.”

Despite the daily horrors of leading a nation under siege, Zelensky says he also shared some lighter moments with his UK counterpart. “We talked about serious topics but you can’t be absolutely serious,” says Zelensky, who made an improbable rise after playing a fictitious president in a TV comedy. “In times of crisis [we] cast a joke about Russians and how they were trying to capture us in three days . . . That is normal.

“But in times of crisis, our relations played a crucial role. I used to say, ‘Now we need something, and we need it now’. I can’t give any specifics but the relationship meant we were still having conversations during the night and . . . it really helped our military on the battlefield.”

Warming to his theme, he adds: “Unlike the main other leaders of the world, the main trait he had was that he had confidence that it was impossible to capture Ukraine, both during the first days of the war and now. He had no doubts that it was impossible to conquer Ukraine. It is not that he could predict the future. He had no doubts that Ukraine would stand and exert pressure on Russia. His talks with me were not different to what he said in public. The public and private were not different.”

Zelensky has been hailed around the world as a heroic leader. As Russian tanks rolled across the border, he ignored advice from western intelligence agencies to flee and establish a government-in-exile where he had a better chance of survival to continue the fight.

This weekend, as Johnson prepares to leave No 10, Zelensky says he has inspired the people he met on the streets of Kyiv. At his presidential desk, next to the Ukrainian flag, Zelensky waves his arms passionately as he speaks of his friend.

 “[Johnson] was in the true spirit of Britain’s character,” he says. “It is about the strength, it is about the confidence. It is in the soul of any strong leader.” Such qualities are “very important” to a nation under attack. “You need to inspire society. People can’t only be motivated through their inner strength, or through their understanding that they would need to protect their family. That is a lot, but that is not enough,” Zelensky says. “People are risking their lives, they are risking everything they have. Prime minister Johnson did provide that inspiration and people saw him.” The president breaks off, adding respectfully: “I don’t want to talk about him in the past tense.”

Johnson is set to return to the back benches and forge a lucrative career on the international speaking circuit. The departure of such a close ally has led to jitters in Kyiv about the future of the special relationship between the nations.

Zelensky says extending an invitation to the new prime minister is a “priority”. Kyiv is expected to be one of the first overseas visits for the new prime minister.

“When we learned that there would be a change of government, all of us were concerned,” says Zelensky, in his customary khaki T-shirt. “Johnson was supporting us and a lot depends on the leader. The leader is the one who communicates. The leader is the one that mediates between a country and its people, and a leader has an impact upon society.”

The president has high hopes that support for Ukraine will continue under Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak although he cannot be “100 per cent confident”.

 “We are all living people, and it all depends on contacts,” Zelensky says. “It all depends on people, on characters.” He is well aware of the bulging in-tray facing Johnson’s successor. “There is winter coming, an energy crisis. There are many other challenges . . .” As he builds a new relationship, “I can only pray that it will be at the same level as I had with prime minister Johnson”.

Already, Johnson has tried to reassure him on that score. Zelensky says the prime minister called him immediately after the announcement that he would be stepping down. “He said, ‘I would like to assure you that the UK will support Ukraine at the same level as I did, and I am confident in that.’ That was a very transparent message, and he repeated that during his most recent visit to Ukraine. I told him that ‘I don’t think there will ever be a relationship like we have built’ and he said, ‘No, believe me . . . this support will continue.’”

Zelensky appears to be more anxious about relations with France and Germany, the two powerhouses of the EU. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, was ridiculed for boasting that he would try to call Putin personally in an attempt to halt the invasion. Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, reversed decades of passive defence policy by announcing the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Several months later, however, many are yet to arrive.

Both countries have been less bullish on the need for sanctions against Russian oligarchs, state-owned banks and the all-powerful oil and gas industry.

Speaking candidly, the president says he “doesn’t know” whether Macron and Scholz “fully understand” the threat posed by Putin — unlike Britain, which has faced Russian attacks inside its borders including the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko.

“I have to believe and trust in [Macron and Scholz] understanding,” says Zelensky, a married father of two. “What I know for sure is that their relationship towards Ukraine [has changed] from the beginning of my presidency . . . I believe that they are more supportive.”

Despite recent assurances from Macron and Scholz, Zelensky is worried about whether support can arrive fast enough to stave off further Russian advances. Ukraine inflicted what he says are heavy Russian losses last week during an offensive aimed at recapturing the southern city of Kherson, but Zelensky says his country does not “have sufficient weapons and support to have a strategic victory over the Russian occupation”.

He claims western leaders now need to be totally aligned with Ukraine on full-blown sanctions, weapons and financial support without what he calls “what-ifs”.

Hesitant European leaders “should not keep talking and waiting for evidence” from court rulings or confirmed battlefield deaths. “We need to settle all this now,” he adds. “We know that there is an occupying force. They are not hiding that they are occupiers.

 “Yes, we know [standing up to Russia] is going to be painful. If you are not willing to lose something, then you will have even graver risks to face.”

Zelensky claims he has “no strength and time” to fear western war fatigue, triggered by a cost of living crisis brought on by the Russian squeeze on energy supply. Instead, he warns of the risk of global war if Russian aggression succeeds. He claims that threat is “incomparable” to a short-term energy crisis.

Speaking on Friday morning, hours before Russia indefinitely suspended supply through a key gas pipeline, Nord Stream 1, Zelensky says: “There are risks like that but I believe that the global society should be afraid of this fatigue. They should be afraid that Ukrainians would be weaker, that we will not be able to stand strong because Russia would definitely continue. They would go to Poland and the Baltic countries. And they have to analyse what will happen . . . What would Nato countries do? There would be a fully-fledged war on the European continent.

“We are talking about a global war. So in today’s situation, the resilience of Ukraine is important for the world. The global community can’t afford to lose.”

Zelensky claims that Putin is following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler as he made an impassioned appeal to world leaders not to underestimate the Kremlin.

“From Belarus, they are using the same routes and directions as Nazi Germany. Now some of the European leaders, who might think that Russia will not bombard their country, who could be comforted by that? You can’t say this is not going to happen. Ten years ago, who would have said that Russia would be torturing people and raping women? It’s impossible to think, it’s unimaginable. But now, that is the case.

“You shouldn’t trust the future. You have to tackle the problems now.”