Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, in an interview with AP, worried that if Russia wins in Bakhmut, it might give Putin the impetus he needs to “sell” some kind of “unacceptable” compromise. If Bakhmut fell to Russian forces, their president, Vladimir Putin, would “sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran, to all the countries, to Brazil, to all the Latin American countries,” he claimed. “If he will feel some blood—smell that we are weak—he will push, push, push,” Zelenskyy said in English, which he used for virtually all of the interview.
In a clearly worried comment, Zelenskyy said that his own citizens won’t have much energy left if they lose in Bakhmut. “Our society will feel tired,” if we lose there he said. “Our society will push me to have compromise with them [Russia].”
