WEBVTT

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Let's start at the beginning.

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Tell us a little about your journey
to Kyiv. How did you get there?

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We got there by train.

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During peaceful time, Ukraine
is using trains for public transport

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70 % of the time.

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Ukraine has the larget European
railway network on the continent.

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Half of its railway is electrified.

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The railway network
is still working.

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Differently in different
parts of the country.

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But you can travel from Polish
border to Kyiv by train.

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There are different routes and people
use this specific route.

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What did you see on the way there
through the windows?

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What did it look like?

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We travelled through the western
part of the country.

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There's no war on the ground,
only some attacks

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by missiles and planes.

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But even from the train

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you clearly see that this part
of the country is preparing for the war.

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There are blockades,

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checkpoints, military vehicles,

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people in uniforms.

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So you see that even this part
of the country, which is

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quite far away
from the actual fighting,

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is prepared for war.

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I don't think that Russia
will come so far.

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What can you tell us about
what you discussed

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with mr. Zelenskiy.

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We discussed real issues.
there were no theoretical debates.

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This means sanctions,
all kind of help for Ukraine,

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humanitarian help,
technical help,

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how to help the refugees and also
military help.

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We also discussed the future,

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the possible framework for
lasting peace agreement,

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which will settle

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the issues
in this part of the continent.

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Something we missed to do
30 years ago.

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We also spoke how to rebuild

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and renew Ukraine.
We brought them

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a draft plan from the OECD.

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The OECD is composing
a very ambitious plan

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on how to help Ukraine
to rebuild after the war.

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We discussed everything that is
important, but the most urgent need

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is how to help Ukraine defend itself,

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because only when Russian tanks
and troops are stopped,

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will be the moment when Russia
is prepared to negotiate.

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Were you able to offer mr. Zelenskiy
and Ukraine solid military help,

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more help than what
is being offered now?

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Actually, a lot of help

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has been offered so far.

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The problem is that all offers haven't
been fulfilled yet.

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But the time is of essence.
Every day

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doesn't have just 24 hours.

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Every day in Ukraine
during the war is counted

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in hundreds of lives.

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On both sides.
We discussed concretely

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how to increase the speed
of the delivery

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and how to make priorities,
because not everything

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is equally important

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regarding the demand of the time.

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Some things were important yesterday.

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How was Mr. Zelenskiy?
We see him on the TV

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how he encourages people of Ukraine,
how diplomatic he is,

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when he's dealing with parliaments.
He's also passionate,

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becasue he's defending his country.

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But he is under serious pressure

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and in agony as his country is being
destroyed around him.

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How did he appear to you?

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Well, I know from our own
experiences, how you feel

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after you're not sleeping
for two or three weeks.

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He is really tired.

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But at the same time
his energy is enormous.

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He's radiating

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the determination
of the whole nation.

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and this is why 90 % of Ukrainians
are supporting him.

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We have also spoken

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with all opposition leaders.

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They are all behind him,
they are supportive.

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Ukrainian political landscape
before the war

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was quite turbulent,

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but now all
opposition leaders

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are behind him.
I have never seen in my life

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such level of unity,
not only the unity of the nation,

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but the unity
of the political class.

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So Russians
miscalculated heavily

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the political landscape
of Ukraine.

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I think they counted on some parties
to support them

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and that they will fight among
themselves. This is not happening.

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And this unity is viable,
so when you speak with these people,

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we also spoke with some
very capable young ministers

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of the Ukrainian government,
you see that now they are bringing

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the same determination
and it is really something different

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when you meet physically

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with somebody than just following
what is happening on screens.

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But also on the screens,
I think we can all see this energy

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which is making
the Ukrainian nation

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being reborn
in this difficult situation.

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And it is really what I said there.
I really believe

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that currently,
there is no other European country

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where European values,
the basic values,

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the basic values of,
I can say,

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the whole Western civilisation
are defended

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more than in Ukraine.
People are defending

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their way of life
with their own lives.

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This is why we have to be aware
that they are not fighting

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only for themselves, they are not
fighting only for the territory

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of their homeland
or of Europe,

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they are fighting
for the very way of life

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they want to share. And we
have to respect this and help them.

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Yes. So Mister Zelensky
has said that Ukraine

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cannot now join NATO.
But do you think

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that Ukraine
should still join the EU?

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Because you have been critical
of the EU in the past,

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but you have also called for Ukraine
to be fast tracked for admission.

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How do you feel about it now?

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Neither NATO nor the EU,

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they are not, you know,

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they are not

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something that is
without any mistakes,

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but if people were not aware

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so far,
especially young generations,

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that both, the EU and NATO

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were created
not first because of the economy

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and because of the welfare
and so on, but mostly

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to preserve peace,
to bring peace to this continent

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after two devastating wars

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during the last century.
This is the most important thing

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and there are basic values
and there are some things

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you can discuss
and you can argue

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on the basis
of everyday political issues.

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Now we are talking
about basic things

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and if Ukraine is prepared

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to change its constitution
because the EU and NATO membership

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is part of
the Ukrainian constitution,

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if they are prepared
to discuss

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this issue,
to put the NATO membership aside

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and this is something that Russia
is putting as the main reason

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for invading Ukraine.
If the Ukrainian leadership

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is prepared to make this concession,
than the hot potato

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is on the EU table,
of course,

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and this is why I think
we have to accept this challenge

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and we have
to stop pretending

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that this is the situation

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and it is normal that we need
15 years of negotiations

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and bickering
about small issues.

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This is a strategic decision
and for Ukraine,

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the EU membership
is some kind of security,

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a part of the security
guaranty's framework

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which is institutional
because they were cheated.

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They were misled in 1994

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when the big powers signed
the Budapest declaration

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where Ukraine abandoned
or got rid of nuclear weapons.

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And the big powers

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guaranteed to Ukraine
the territorial integrity

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and political sovereignty.
And we have seen

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during the last two decades that
nobody  fulfilled these promises

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and they will not buy the same stuff
for the second time.

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They need
some institutional guaranties

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and if the EU is something

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like that for them, we have
to respect it. But I do not think

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this is enough.
If you want lasting peace

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in this part of the continent,
I think that we have to put

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everything in this peace agreement.
At the table,

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we do not only need
Russia and Ukraine,

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we also need the countries

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which signed
the Budapest declaration

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26 years ago
and I think we also need China

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that signed the declaration
a year after.

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We really need
big powers there

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if we want
this peace agreement

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to last for the next generation.
If we want to fix something,

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we should have fixed
it decades ago. -Right.

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Tell me this.
Do you think that other leaders

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will now be going to Ukraine

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to show their support
like you have

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for Mr Zelensky
and also for Ukraine itself?

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Yes, they will. They will.

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Some of them, I think, very soon,
and it is very important.

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When we entered the Ukrainian train,
we saw in the eyes of those people

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working on the train

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how happy they are
that somebody is coming

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because frankly speaking,
during the last three weeks,

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they were able to follow
just the opposite route

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Some ambassadors left Kyiv
even before the Russian aggression,

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so now we have to turn

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the trend
and our first proposal

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together with the Polish
and Czech PM

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when we returned from Kyiv
this morning, was that the EU

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has to send its representative
back to Kyiv

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to have somebody there
who can represent us physically,

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not only through the screens.
And I am also asking other countries

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to do the same.
-Mister Janša,

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can you tell me this.
What do you think now

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should happen with Mr Putin?
Everybody is going to Ukraine,

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showing their support so clearly
for Mr Zelensky.

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That leaves Mr Putin
very isolated.

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What do you think is the next step
for him? -Not only Putin,

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but also the country
where he is the president,

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is very isolated.
Only four members of the UN

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supported Russia in the last voting
and 141 countries

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voted against.
This is a serious issue for Russia

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because in the Russian public,
they demonised NATO,

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the EU is not taken seriously
because it is not a hard power.

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But they are members
of the UN security council

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and it is a different story.
It was a huge defeat

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and they are not able to hide
it totally from the public.

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But on the future of Mr Putin,
I think

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if he is prepared
to negotiate

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then he will have influence

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over what will happen
with him in the future. If not

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and if he is
military defeated in Ukraine,

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which is possible now.
This was not a viable option

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for 99 % of those
who followed the development there

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three weeks ago.
Now, this is a viable option.

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If this happens, then he
will not decide his own future

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so his time is now. He is called
to the negotiating table

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and at some moment,

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he will have to decide
that he has to withdraw

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his military units from Ukraine
and with the withdrawal,

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we will withdraw the sanctions.
Faster the withdrawal

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of the Russian military,
faster the lifting of the sanctions.

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Okay then. Thank you so much.
-Thank you.