Of course, but all of us are tired in Ukraine, I think. So, but we have to do our job to save our country, to defend our rights and our people. So, I think that we are in the same boat. Yes. Tired, but strongest.
Yeah, in English, not the same question. Okay. Okay. Thank you for the question. So, about Switzerland, the mandate of our group—you know, our group, all the senators, you know, all the representatives, of course Rustem will lead this group, will continue to do it. The first one, we have a political sector and we have a military sector. The surprise is that Russians changed, you know, the leader of the group. This is a surprise to my mind because they want to postpone the decisions, but maybe I'm a little bit pessimistic. But we count on Americans that we will continue and they will not give Russia a chance to postpone or to say, 'Let's begin negotiations from the very, very beginning because we have a new group.' Yes, I think that will be a big mistake, and I hope that our American partner will not give such a possibility to Russians to play with them. So, military and political. About the military, they have to accept the monitoring mission—how it will be in the case when the war will end, the monitoring of the ceasefire. That's what they have to accept.
And only one thing between us and them: the exchange, exchanging of war prisoners. So they have, I think, about 7,000, maybe a little bit less, of Ukrainian warriors. We have today, I think, more than 4,000 already. It's good news because we had 1,500, and today we have a little bit more than 4,000. It means that we can exchange. So we are ready. If they say all-to-all, great. If they say 1,000 to 1,000, not great, but very good. But if they say 100 to 100, we will do it, of course. For us, any such step is a positive decision. This mandate our group has. And about the political decisions, Rustem, will you give a comment?
Yeah, the President gave instructions and directives to discuss. On the land, we have to stay where we stay. It's not just, it's not good, it's not fair, because for us, it's just the 1991 borders. But this option is on the table that we discuss. The second option was potentially that the US and other European allies said about a free economic zone. We are elaborating around it, and details we will tell later.
Mr. President, do you know the European Union in 2027? Seriously, we—
This is a part of our security guarantees. We spoke about security guarantees, but we need a package. And the United States and Europe, they accepted that they think that bilateral security guarantees between us and the United States is crucial. Trilateral between the United States, Europe, and Ukraine is very important, meaning a coalition with the backstop of the United States. And our membership in the EU as part of security guarantees—so we need it. This is the package for us. One doesn't work without another because it's economic security guarantees. We speak about the date, we underline it more and more that we have to be ready. My team has to prepare—the government team, the parliamentarians—they have to prepare everything. Technically, Ukraine has to be ready in 2027. But the date of accession depends on all these dialogues with 27 members. But we need the date. We are speaking to fix the date in this document. I said it previously: I think that, with all respect to the United States and Europe, if we will not have the date in the document, I think that Russia will block our membership in the future, and it will be a problem for all of us because they will do it. They will use some other countries or by themselves, because they don't want us to be in the EU.
Deborah Haynes from Sky News. The UK and some other allies today have come out and said that Alexei Navalny was killed with a deadly toxin, probably from a lab, that comes from Ecuadorian dart frogs. And they say that it's only Russia that could have done this. What do you say?
Only Russia, only Vladimir Putin's Kremlin that could be behind this. So what do you say to that? Are you worried that Putin might try to use this kind of poison against you? What needs to be done by the West to deter Vladimir Putin from poisoning his enemies?
A very difficult question. I mean, I don't know what will be tomorrow. I'm really open for this. We have to fight each day. So our life, each day is a new life. Each day is a new life, one goal: how to survive. I'm not thinking about myself because we lost a lot of people. So I'm one of all the people in Ukraine who are in Ukraine, and we fight for this. So I can't think about Vladimir Putin and about his poison ambitions, if he has them. I don't know, but he had them, yes. And I can't think about it because otherwise I will think only about it, but I don't have time for it. They attack us with—you see, hundreds, hundreds of drones and missiles. What is the difference between poison and a missile? I don't see the difference. And about Navalny, I don't know. Maybe, I think that Russia—I think that he did it, but I don't know what they used for this killing.
About the coalition of the willing and about the troops in Ukraine: you know my position from the first days of the war. Of course, all our soldiers, all our people wanted, of course, not to be alone during this fight. But I never could publicly propose to have troops from other countries because I was afraid—and I think I'm right, because I tried to raise this topic, yeah, but I understand the reaction. I never raised the topic to involve other troops in Ukraine during the war because I thought that we would lose any kind of support, and I was afraid, and I will not risk it now. Yeah, because the price of this risk is high. This is the decision of each country. And even after this war ends, it was the idea of a coalition of the willing from France, from Emmanuel. Of course I support it, but it was the signal from him and from the UK that after a ceasefire, after we have a ceasefire, we are ready to put troops, and the willing, one or another country, they have to put troops somewhere, soldiers somewhere. It's about sky security somewhere, in the water, in the sea. And of course, we support this idea very much. And of course, Russia is against this idea. And of course, when we speak with Americans, they said, for example, that Russia is against it, but they will not attack you. My question is simple: so if they don't want to continue the war or come to us a third time, why are they afraid? Europeans are just staying. Why are you afraid? So if you don't want to go, why are you afraid of them? Why are you afraid? Because you know why.
Yeah. You had the follow-up.
Yes. He wants to have the opportunity to come back. He has this in his mind, I'm sure.
I'll answer about the immigration of Ukrainians in the Ukrainian language, if it's possible. Okay.
Military.
They want to hear about Taurus, and—
About Taurus. So there is no decision about Taurus from Germany, yeah, if you're asking this. So you know that yesterday we opened the line of co-production. It's great, and really, my congratulations, it's a successful line. I was there in production, a good one, with Ukrainian and German production. And we began to build drones, and already these drones are on the front line—not all of them, because they will build a big package of drones, but this is a good thing. About Taurus, we don't have a decision from the German side. I'll be honest with you. But I have to find this balance in dialogue: what to choose. I can't choose everything, you know. I want to choose everything during the war—I'm very open with you—but I can't. Yes. So I think you understand why I can't. So I have to choose something, and I'm choosing what I can get now.
Yes, maybe. Thank you. Emma from the Associated Press. You've said previously that the concessions throughout these talks have often focused mostly on Ukraine and not on... How interested do you think the Americans are now in achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine? And also, how do you think Russia and Ukraine can come to an agreement over the Donbas when you've got such differing views?
The American side told us very openly—we spend so much time, our groups, a lot of hours with Americans, and already with Russians, but more with Americans, much more. So the message is next: if Ukraine will withdraw from Donbas by themselves as quick as possible, peace will come. This is guarantees from Russia. And our messages are next: when we speak with Americans, there have been a lot of different questions from Russia's side to us, etc. And they said that you see that they did a lot that we are raising only one topic: land concessions, swaps, or something like this. Yeah. And I said, to my mind—and maybe I'm mistaken—that I think that they never had other goals than only the occupation of Ukraine, and the minimum what they want is Donbas. But 100% to sell this like a victory to their society. Maybe even not to their society—sometimes we think that to their society, but I think maybe to himself. This is a victory for himself, you know. And I'm not sure that he is thinking how to sell something to his society. He can sell everything because he did it for 30 years.
And that's why we just can't withdraw from our territory or exchange our territory, one piece for another piece of our territory. It's something a little bit crazy, sorry. And that's why this is not just land. 200,000 people there—hundreds of thousands have been killed there, especially in this direction, especially in this Donbas. And the war which began in 2014 began from the east and Crimea. So it's a historical mistake that nobody answered to Putin directly in 2014. It's a historical mistake. He couldn't occupy everything. He was not so brave as today or as during the full-scale war. In 2014, his army came without—I don't know the English word—without Russian uniform. It means that he was afraid, because in 2022, he came in uniform, in tanks, army vehicles, missiles, etc. Nobody stopped him before 2014, and that's why he increased his bravery. And that is why, believe me, he's even more sure than he was 10 years ago, even four years ago. That's why if we give him this opportunity to feel just this victory, we don't know what he will do next.
I said to our American friends who said, 'Who knows, maybe on Donbas we will do something, and in the middle between us will stay Americans and the security...' But I don't know. Even if American soldiers stay there—we are not asking for them, but even if, let's imagine that they stay there, that's possible...
They stay. Nobody will control totally what's going on in the territory not controlled by Ukraine. Nobody will control. They can kill one or another, or be wounded, or blow somebody up. And what will any American president say? Any, because it can be tomorrow, or in five years, three years—I don't know how many years they are ready to stay. So what the president will do depends on who will be the president, yes. But I think we saw what was in Afghanistan. I'm not comparing this, but I think that if Putin wants to come and occupy us, and I think if they provoke something, to my mind there is a big chance that the people who stay there—maybe not Americans, I mean somebody—I think that they can go out. And in this case, Putin will provoke, of course, not by themselves they will go out, but he will provoke and they will go out. What will happen? It will be a big occupation of Ukraine, a lot of losses. That's why I said this is a variant, but not positive for Ukraine, with big risks for security guarantees and big risks for security guarantees of the country who gave the security guarantees to Ukraine, because that will be their word. Yes.
We will be touching this point, but we cannot discuss it publicly.
Yeah, so we are not publicly going to discuss it.
Moritz Gathmann from Germany. Following up to the question on Taurus, I remember that in autumn, there was a lot of hope connected with the Flamingo missile that it could also put pressure on Russia because it is a new weapon, a powerful weapon, but we haven't seen a lot.
