Quote of the Day: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

MUNICH, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 19: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives for a photo opportunity ahead of bilateral talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the 2022 Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2022 in Munich, Germany. The conference, which brings together security experts, politicians and people of influence from across the globe, is taking place as Russian troops stand amassed on the Russian, Belarusian and Crimean borders to Ukraine, causing international fears of an imminent military invasion. (Photo by Alexandra Beier - Pool/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met with Vice President Kamala Harris in Munich on Saturday. The Hill reports:

Zelensky told Harris, via an interpreter, that “the only thing we want is to have peace.” “This is our land, we understand what is happening. The only thing we want is to return peace to our country, and in this situation, we are very grateful to you, the United States, as our ally and partner, we are grateful to President Biden,” Zelensky said, according to the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.
The Hill

Asked if he was afraid to leave Ukraine with nearly 200,000 Russian troops surrounding his country, Zelensky said:

“I had my breakfast in Ukraine, and I will have my dinner in Ukraine.”

Say what you will about whether it was smart for Zelensky to go to Munich, and the argument not to go is a valid one. But he came prepared to support his country and does not at all sound like a leader who is scared, weakened or unstable. All measures Putin desperately seeks…
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) February 19, 2022

While in Munich, Zelensky told CNN the sanctions against Russia—if it invades—should be made public now.

“The question of just making it public … just the list of sanctions, for them, for us, to know what will happen if they start the war — even that question does not have the support,” he told CNN.”We don’t need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen and after our country will be fired at or after we will have no borders, or after we will have no economy … why would we need those sanctions then?”