Aidan Stretch spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv. "Ukrainians will win this war," Zelenskyy emphasized, renewing his pleas for support from allies including the U.S.
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What Volodymyr Zelenskyy said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
In a CBS News interview in Kyiv after Russian strikes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked European, Canadian, and American partners for missile transfers but said deliveries are 'too slow' and urged the U.S. to 'rush' and prioritize saving Ukrainian lives. He confirmed that Ukrainian Defense Minister Umerov spoke with Jared Kushner yesterday and expressed hope that Steve Witkoff and Kushner would visit Ukraine to understand the situation and push for negotiations, noting they had promised to come weeks or months ago. Asked if Ukraine is winning, Zelenskyy said Russia is losing and Ukrainians will win, but he would choose to stop the war tomorrow if possible, calling for more pressure on Putin. He emphasized that nearly half of the missiles used in the strikes were ballistic, which Ukraine cannot reliably defend against except with U.S.-made Patriot interceptors.
Key takeaways
Zelenskyy said missile transfers from the U.S. and partners are 'too slow' and urged the U.S. to 'rush' deliveries to save Ukrainian lives.
Zelenskyy confirmed Umerov spoke with Jared Kushner yesterday and expects Witkoff and Kushner to visit Ukraine soon.
Zelenskyy said Russia is losing the war and Ukrainians will win, but he would choose to stop the war tomorrow if possible.
Zelenskyy noted nearly half of the missiles used in the strikes were ballistic, which Ukraine cannot reliably defend against except with Patriot interceptors.
We want to take you now back to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where CBS News International reporter Hayden Smith is speaking to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Moscow launched some significant strikes on the capital. Let's listen in.
So, right now, they're telling us that Mr. President is telling us that Putin is in a weak position and that he needs to be stronger.
Mr. President, I'm Lesley Stahl of CBS News. We've heard you ask repeatedly for more ballistic defenses from the United States. You said yesterday that nearly half of the missiles used were ballistic missiles. Have you received a response from the United States for those asks?
Well, we are thankful for the program, thankful to the European team. They pay for this and they paid already, and now we have some packages of war. And with Europe and Canada and other partners, and we are thankful to the American team for transfer of these missiles, but for today, it's too slow. To be honest, too slow. Of course, I count on a meeting with the American team during the closest days. We will see what will be. We don't know what Putin will do and what will be there with all the plans of our meetings, etc., etc. But what is most important, of course, we are asking President Trump and his team. Yes. Rush. That's only one thing. And we don't need, you know, too many words. You see what it means when the packages come to Ukraine slowly. This is a big problem. But these people lost not only their apartments. This is a problem to lose your home, your house. They lost their children, their families, their life. And I think this is the problem, not the problem of how to push missiles quickly. They have to work. I'm so sorry. I understand that there are a lot of internal questions in the United States, and I know in Europe, in all Europe, all Europe, United States, a lot of different countries live from elections to elections. We understand that. But please, the priority is to save lives. Ukrainian lives.
When was the last time that you heard from Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, or another member of the president's team? And do you expect them to re-engage with negotiations soon?
Yesterday there was a conversation between, I think, Umerov and Kushner. Yes, and the day before yesterday, and so on. So I mean, they said weeks or, I don't know, maybe months ago that they will come to Ukraine. They have to come to see, to understand, and to explain to the president, and then to answer in a very polite manner how Steve Witkoff can go to Russia, what they have to do quickly, sit, negotiate, stop this war. And that's why we wanted them to come to us for, I think, quite a long period of time. So I hope that they will come. Yes, and I understand that there are challenges in the Middle East, as I said. We are thankful for their position that they want to help, etc. But we need more than words.
5 more exchanges in this transcript
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Zelenskyy, V. (2026, July 2). Zelenskyy urges U.S. to "save Ukrainian lives" after Russian strikes on Kyiv [Interview transcript]. CBS News. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1063033/
MLA
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Zelenskyy urges U.S. to "save Ukrainian lives" after Russian strikes on Kyiv." CBS News, 2 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1063033/.
BibTeX
@misc{zelenskyy2026_1063033,
author = {Volodymyr Zelenskyy},
title = {Zelenskyy urges U.S. to "save Ukrainian lives" after Russian strikes on Kyiv},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, CBS News. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jul},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1063033/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
