Ukrainian envoy to i24NEWS: Democracies must not back ‘barbarian monarchies’
"During the President Trump administration, for the last year, the number of civilian casualties has been rising," the ambassador says in an interview on The Rundown ⚫ WATCH
Ukraine's ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, sat down for an interview with i24NEWS Tuesday on The Rundown for a conversation marking the 4-year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The envoy made remarks referencing comments made by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also addressed Iranian-Russian cooperation and the impact of US policy on the war.
"During October 7, after so many people were dead because of the Russian weapon that they found in Lebanon and in Gaza and the heavy support of Russia for Hamas and Hezbollah, I think everyone in Israel understands what the right side of history is for the Israelis," Korniychuk said. "I believe that the democratic countries have to be proud of their friendships with the democratic states and not with the barbaric monarchists like what Russia is at the moment," he added.
"We have the same enemy, Iran, which is being backed by Russia and China. Iran sold ballistics to Russia for the last four years in the amount of $4 billion. The Russians sold the Iranians antimissile defense for approximately half a million. These are the missiles and drones that have been used against Ukrainians and Israelis, so we have to focus together on the same problems," the envoy said.
Addressing US policy, the ambassador noted that "during the President Trump administration, the number of civilian casualties has been rising." He explained that this is not clearly because of Trump's actions, "but this is the reality."
"We definitely want him to come back to his initial policy, where the US president said before the elections that if Russia would not stop the war, he would push more on Russia, but if Ukraine would not want to stop the war, he would not provide them with the intelligence and military equipment," he added.
Watch the full interview below:
"Unfortunately, most Ukrainians feel that we are experiencing much more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia. That's not fair, and when you are listening to the US administration, sometimes you lose track of who started and who is doing what," the envoy said.
"We feel the great support of our Israeli friends and government. I have been optimistic about it," the ambassador said, describing his overall warm sentiments on his country's current relations with Israel. "We are working much more closely together now on the security issues with the Israeli counterpart than 4 years ago, but during the war it's never enough," he added.