The following is a transcript of an interview with Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova that was broadcast Sunday, March 6, 2022, in “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: And now we’re joined by Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. Welcome back to Face the Nation, Ambassador.
UKRAINE AMBASSADOR OKSANA MARKAROVA: Thank you, thank you very much for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Your president has issued two requests for assistance this morning. He said that if the West does not provide Ukraine with at least airplanes, we can only draw one conclusion: we also want them to kill us very slowly. This morning Secretary Blinken said that Poland has the green light to give you these fighter jets. Do you know if you will get them and what difference will there be?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: Well, as we have seen for the past eleven days, I believe that the Ukrainians have shown the world that we will not stop and that we will not give up. And we will defend our homes. And like in 2014, when the Russians attacked us for the first time and there was this brutal destruction of Donetsk airport, where the Ukrainian cyborgs, people like our military, defended the airport to the end, until collapsed. And there’s a saying that, you know, they … the cyborgs resisted the concrete no. We don’t want this to happen again, so we’ll fight. Our brave men and women of the armed forces and all the civilians who are stopping the enemy without weapons, will even fight, and we need all the support to keep this fight …
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Fes
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: So …
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Do you know when these planes will come?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: We look forward to seeing you as soon as possible. And we are working with our American friends and allies, especially, on the constant supply of all the ammunition and anti-tank and anti-aircraft planes so that we can effectively defend our country.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Frankly, this week the world was terrified when they saw Russia firing on a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. And its president told Congress yesterday that Russian forces had seized two nuclear power plants in Ukraine. They are advancing by a third. Are you alone to defend them? Is there any help from anywhere in Europe to secure nuclear power plants?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: Well, I think it should come because the first station they seized was the Chernobyl station, which is very risky but not operational, so there is a lot of waste and everything else. And as they – they went – they won – they won the war, the staff is still held hostage. There is no shift change, so it is very dangerous. The second operation is the largest in Europe. In fact, this put the world on the brink of nuclear disaster. And although, once again, our firefighters were able to put out the fire, no one is safe. Ukraine is not safe. Europe is not safe. Because these stations are not supposed to be run by war criminals. They are supposed to be run by responsible engineers. So this is something that we are posing as a problem because Ukraine has a lot of power plants, and all of them could be attacked because, again, we are all surprised not only by all this indiscriminate bombing of civilians, shooting at people. , bombing schools and now nuclear power plants. What’s next?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Then, but what is the solution? Asking UN officials to come and help secure it? What is the option available to Ukraine to insure these plants now?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: That is the question in the world. You know, we’re ready for any choice. We are talking about closed non-skis. We are talking about any kind of security operations. We are talking to anyone. So whatever it is, whoever it is, be it the UN or any other, or individual countries, I mean we should act together. We are defending it. We are doing our best. We are responsible, even though we are defending our home, our armed forces are very careful not to shoot at the power plants, not to do any damage that could affect not only Ukraine but us. We can not say this about the Russian criminals, who are doing everything specifically to destroy Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And Russia, of course, denies that all this is deliberate, and denies reports from your government that they are raping women, that there is a deliberate target against nuclear power plants and infrastructure. They deny deliberately bombing the Holocaust memorial. Do you think that the international community is doing what it is supposed to do? Or do you think that the international system is failing in Ukraine?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: Well, look, first of all, it’s horrible that Russia denies it and that they should lie because we see it online, and I would like to thank all the brave men and women journalists who are now in Kyiv. and all the other places that show what is really going on in Ukraine. It happens. They did. They did it deliberately. We see it in videos, photos and you know we all talk to people at home. So the Russians are on the rise, and they’re fast, and we’ve helped them a lot; We are very grateful to all of our partners, and especially to the United States, to everyone, to President Biden, for all that they are doing to support us. We. But after eleven days it is clear that we also need all of us to move faster because the Russians are rising.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You attended the State of the Union last week as a guest of the First Lady. The president addressed this country talking about Ukraine. This is very different for the American people. How do you explain to the American people why this $ 10 billion aid is being asked for by President Biden? Why should U.S. taxpayers be concerned and invest in your country?
AMBASSADOR MARKAROVA: Well, Ukraine did nothing to be attacked. If we didn’t provoke Russia, we wouldn’t do anything. We were not a threat to Russia unless being a peaceful democracy and simply marching peacefully to your own country is a threat. And if so, it’s not just about Ukraine, it’s about Europe and the whole world. I mean, we see President Putin threatening everyone with all forces, including nuclear power. We have to stop it because again, it is not just a conflict, it is not just a regional issue. It is a full-fledged war that a great nuclear power that actually signed and assured us, along with the United States and Britain when we voluntarily denuclearized Ukraine in 1994, gave us guarantees not to attack us. So we are the first ones, and we have to stop Putin and this criminal war in Ukraine, instead of waiting until together we have to fight everywhere.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Madam Ambassador, thank you again for joining us and we will be back to the nation much sooner, so stay with us.
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