Putin ‘will not get away' with Russia-Ukraine war as world leaders meet for peace summit

we are forcing the ukrainians to um um um deal with some very very unsavory characters in the armaments industry and because demand is outstripping Supply these people are profiteering from it and you know there's also the fact that Russia and Ukraine are competing in many of the same markets now more than a 100 world leaders are meeting in Switzerland to try to develop a peace plan for Ukraine they're expected to adopt a joint decaration today it will reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity and call for a prisoner of war exchange while the price Ukraine is paying for weapons has soared partly due to Black marketeers cashing in Vladimir puso is founder of the country's defense procurement agency he's been speaking to the Sunday Times Deputy political editor Harry York in an exclusive interview he says donated weapons are not enough and to turn the tide of the war Ukraine will need to spend the equivalent of China's $200 billion defense budget three or four times over well let's speak to KAC Smith he's a former special adviser to Ukraine's foreign minister good morning corac Lo good morning thank you for having me on a pleasure just tell us first of all I mean many people will think you know there's a huge amount of weapons that are being given from the West this is clearly nowhere near the amount that Ukraine needs and so where exactly are they turning to tell us about these black markets well look the article in the times today is really sobering and um it's in it's an infuriating read for somebody like me who has been working in former communist countries since 2014 and um I've been working with the ukrainians as you said as a former special advisor since 2016 um the work I do now I've left government is obviously voluntary um but I'm I'm in communication with them every day um look we had we had effectively Russia invaded um um Ukraine in 2014 and the West since 2014 the West has had a a virtual arms embargo on supplying any lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine this was only began to be raised about halfway through 2021 when American intelligence made it very very clear that they believed Russia was getting ready for an invasion but yet and you know the Brits were among the first to provide the it was quoted in the article 2000n laws which were probably critical in the saving of keev in the early days but still everything we have done has been incremental we have not we have still not W woken up in the west to the fact that this is a existential threat not just to Ukraine but to the west and to our whole way of life and there's something you know if freedom is to Prevail democracy needs to be better armed than dictatorship and I have said on many interviews this year that we should have put our Industries in the West on a war footing over two years ago when this started we are only starting to do this now so you know it's simple supply and demand the amount of weapons that the West is giving Ukraine as this gentleman says simply is not enough so we are forcing the ukrainians to um um um deal with some very very unsavory characters in the armaments industry and because demand is outstripping Supply these people are profiteering from it and you know there's also the fact that Russia and Ukraine are competing in many of the same markets although we do know recently that Iran is supplying a lot of armaments to Russia as is North Korea and we have intelligence reports in fact Grand chaps came out last um last month and claimed very very clearly that we have intelligence reports that China is now supplying lethal Aid to to um Russia to be used in Ukraine so Ukraine really has it back to the wall and we have not done enough in the west simply to to arm Ukraine and to give Ukraine the wherewithal to defend herself and ultimately Drive Russia out of the country and it's it's an indictment it is an indictment on us in the West um ultimately that's how I see this Co maith thank you for your time this morning he's former special advisor to Ukraine's foreign minister well I'd like to start by stressing that this is indeed a historic Summit because it is attended by over 100 like you said heads of state and international organizations this Summit sends a very clear message to Russia that it will not get away with its crime of aggression it will not get away with black blackmailing the world with nuclear uh sabotage it will not get away with kidnapping Ukrainian children and of course the fact that Russia is not present and was not invited to this first inaugural Summit uh it's logical because first we need to develop an international position a unified unambiguous International view of a just and Lasting peace and as our leadership has already said clearly that once that position is gone solidified then we will um deliver it to Russia and then during the next peace Summit uh perhaps they will be present and they will participate their representatives now as for China uh you know we have always treated China from the point of view of pragmatic diplomacy and uh you know China is a major International player um sooner or later uh it is inevitable that China will will be more involved uh but for now it's a pragmatic approach and uh you know we will have just to wait for it to change in the future and it's also an important powerful message isn't it a reminder to Russia of the sheer number of countries that are supporting Ukraine well absolutely Russia has um been hoping that they can use their uh Oran propaganda to convince the world that you know it is not Russia who started the war which is not true of course right so this peace Summit once again in very clear terms uh stipulates that Ukraine has a right to adjust and Lasting peace uh based on the respect of its territorial Integrity this Summit shows to Russia that it is alone in trying to use this Oran upside down vision of peace and uh of course Russia always hoped that the world will get tired of this uh largest War since the second world war but look two years or more than two years after the beginning of the large scale Invasion more than 100 um leaders of different nations have gathered together and they stand resolved and determined to help Ukraine achieve peace uh and this is an important step towards it I'm just wondering what success would look like at the end of this meeting and I appreciate it is the first of many but clearly wanting to come together with some sense of a framework to move towards peace what does that look like in your view this Summit will set the foundation for finding a formula for the long comprehensive and Lasting peace and uh our peace plan was announced long time ago by President zalinski it contains you know very logical requirements that Russian Troop grps are withdrawn from our territory that Russia stops uh blackmailing the world with food crisis that Russia doesn't attack nuclear facilities that Russia returns our kidnapped children there's more than 20,000 of them uh but again um this is just the beginning of of this uh process and you know in the meantime Ukraine continues to build up its own defense industry base because we understand that you know we have to become at some point self-sufficient and we need to have strong positions on the battlefield and with the help of our partners we will be able to uh defend our country and to degrade Russian uh Army to an extent where it will become clear to them that this war is for them unwinable unsustainable and the whole civilized world all three nations support Ukraine and it's interesting you talk about the battlefield uh we have an interview in the Sunday Times today about how the cost of weapons have skyrocketed during this um War uh with weapons dealers essentially just profiteering um and the difficulties that Ukraine has in trying to buy weapons on the black market because there still aren't enough weapons being supplied by Western allies how big a problem is that Chloe knowing about these if you like Market issues uh we have been spending a lot of time uh in particular at the ministry of strategic industry so of Ukraine train to build up our own defense industry base in fact despite the missile attacks despite uh the horrors that happen in our country we have been able to Triple the output of our defense industry base and in fact today Ukrainian manufacturers of weapons are capable of producing three times more the amount of weapons and ammunition that the Ukrainian government has funds to actually procure this is why we are running now a global fundraising Campaign which is called Bry manufacturing freedom and the purpose of that campaign is to encourage our partners to buy Ukrainian weapons from the Ukrainian manufacturers for the Ukrainian Army now this will go towards resolving somewhat towards resolving the issue that you have just highlighted really good to speak to you today thank you so much for your time thank you Chloe thank you as always thank you that is Yuri sack he's an advisor to the minister of strategic industries of Ukraine and Harry yor has written that piece Deputy political editor of the Sunday Times he's written that in today's paper revealed how profit is are hiking arms prices for Ukraine well worth a read just the kind of the murky world in in which uh Ukraine now has to to wander around trying to secure enough um ammunition and enough weapons because quite frankly they don't have enough at the moment from Western allies and of course that is partly due to the delay in them arriving but well worth a read of Harry York's peace if you've got a subscription to the times and the Sunday Times you can go online now to the times.com

Channel: Times Radio

Views: 91,945

Keywords: ukraine peace summit, ukraine peace summit news, ukraine peace summit switzerland, ukraine war, ukraine, switzerland ukraine peace summit, ukraine peace talks, russia ukraine war, ukraine peace summit 2024, china ukraine peace summit, ukraine peace summit russia, ukraine summit peace, ukraine peace summit update, ukraine peace summit india, putin, zelensky, zelenskyy, russia, russia war, vladimir putin

Id: mfXC4xTwzQo

Length: 11min 16sec (676 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 16 2024