The following is the full transcript of an interview with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that aired on Sunday, April 24, 2022 on “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have met with several cabinet officials and President Biden himself. What is your message from Washington to President Zelenskyy?
MARGARET BRENNAN: What’s the message from Washington to President Zelenskyy?
PRIME MINISTER DENYS SHMYHAL: So, first of all, we have a great and amazing meeting with President Biden, with all the officials of the United States. We have large meetings with international financial organizations and with finance ministers from many countries, G20 countries. And the main message is that the civilized world is absolutely fantastic to support Ukraine in this situation and Russia is starting this large-scale war against Ukraine. So this is the main message I have after the meetings here. And the United States supports us especially in all areas, in the military, in the financial, and in the humanitarian field, because we now have great challenges in our country because of this war with Russia.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There have been a number of world leaders, the United Kingdom of Austria, other countries who have come to Ukraine to see for themselves what is going on. Is it important for you that an American official comes to Ukraine?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: He is a very important political symbol and a symbol of unity for countries, politicians and nations. When our partners go to Ukraine to see with their own eyes what has happened, what atrocities and war crimes were committed by the Russian army and the Russian Federation in Ukraine during these 58 days of this bloody war in Ukraine. Therefore, it is a signal and an important problem for our nation when our partners are represented in Ukraine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have US assurances that the Americans will soon reopen the embassy in Ukraine?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: We are waiting for that. We look forward to seeing you soon.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you been given dates or promises, or are we just waiting to be sure?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: No, a decision will be made and we will wait for that to happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: When we look at what’s happening in Mariupol, how should Americans understand what happens once Russia takes control of that city?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: Mariupol is now surrendered by the Russian army, I’m sorry. Mariupol is now surrounded by the Russian army. Part of Mariupol is occupied by Russians, but another part where is Azovstal, large company, 25% of the city-plosh ?. 25% of the surface of the city. So a few thousand of our soldiers, a few thousand civilians along with them. Most are women and children hiding in the basements of these companies. Soldiers are protecting civilians, but the amount of Russian soldiers, the amount of Russian techniques is times more than our soldiers. But now we have heard the Russians start bombing, bombing this company, these shelters, where our soldiers and civilians are saving from their bombs. And we ask the Russians, we ask all our partners to stop them and create a green corridor and let these people out of there to save their lives. Because it is very important, because in Mariupol we know the facts when children and babies died from dehydration during these 58 days of war. So there are terrible atrocities, terrible war crimes in the territory of Mariupol. And when we release him, we will open up to the world a lot of these military crimes and these atrocities that the Russian army is committing right now and as we see it in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and other cities in Kyiv, Chernihiv. , and some regions so they are doing the same in Mariupol.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There have been satellite images of mass graves around the city.
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: Absolutely.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Your government has said that Mariupol could be a red line. And because of the atrocities, diplomacy may not be possible. We are at this point, has this line been crossed?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: I think Bucha was one of the game changers for the civilized world, for our society. But Mariupol is like a symbol of the brave Ukrainian soldiers and civilians for two months protecting the city from Russian invasion, from Russian atrocities. So this is like a symbol for the world. And I think it will be a red line for the whole civilized world, not just for Ukrainian society, for the Ukrainian government, for the Ukrainian people. So we will protect our country. We protect our cities. And Mariupol will remain until the end because of our soldiers who say we will stay here and protect our city until then.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I heard you say it could be the worst catastrophe of the century. So do you think that after doing something like this, Russia can negotiate in good faith?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: Russia has committed many atrocities and many war crimes in Ukraine. But we understand that this terrible war could only end on the negotiating table with the presence of our partners, the world leaders, the civilized countries. But we should sign some documents about the end of this war. So, anyway, but now we are, in our society and in our army, the boys and girls are so brave and ready to protect our country whenever it is needed. And we feel the support of the United States, President Biden personally, all the officials of the United States, the European Union, all the other countries, Canada, for example. And we will fight and the whole civilized world will support us. And we feel that and it encourages us, it encourages our army, our soldiers, our people. If you know that more than 200 peoples, men and women, were returning to Ukraine in the early days of the war to stay and protect our country. They come from all over the world, from all the countries where they live and work. So our people around the world are ready to protect our country. And we cheer so much, the Ukrainian people are so brave that we will fight to the end, to victory, to glory. So it is very important to us.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Biden says he will go to Congress next week and ask for more money to provide weapons to Ukraine. The last time it happened, it took Congress three weeks to sign the funds. Do you have three weeks to wait?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: When the war is over, so we count every minute, every hour, not every day, not every week or every month because every minute and every hour soldiers, civilians, children and women die. That’s why we need faster decisions. But the United States, the European Union, the civilized world are making much faster decisions, and we are very grateful for that. We need more support. I told all our meetings that we needed four questions. The first is ammunition and weapons so that our country has a chance to protect us, to make that weapon in our army, and to stop the Russians from invading Ukraine and marching on democratic countries and the democratic world. The second issue is sanctions, because their fair influence on the budget of Russia, which is financing terrorism and genocide against Ukrainians. The third, third issue is financial support because we would like to ensure the macroeconomic stability of our country, because we understand that when the war is over, we will recover our country very quickly if we now save macroeconomic stability and economic stability, the stability of our business, our social and humanitarian obligations. And the fourth issue is the perspectives of our Europeans, because Ukraine understands and all our people understand that our future is in the civilized world, in the United Europe, but not in the former Soviet Union or the Russian Empire. Therefore, it is our civilized choice of our society.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But we know the next few weeks are critical. A group of lawmakers has talked about the creation of field hospitals on the border of Ukraine, the creation of medical supplies. Is this the kind of instant help you need?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: The great battle for the Donbass begins 5 or 4 days ago. We see it because of these big, big battles. So I repeat, the great battle for the Donbas, as the Russians call it, began five days ago. We see this because of the number of casualties on both sides and Russia is putting dramatic pressure on our army. But our soldiers remain in their positions, protecting and we will. We have the support of our partners in the military, in the financial field. Therefore, this is very important for us. And we will have this hour closer and we will have it now. So we are grateful to our partners and especially to the United States for that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But specifically, are medical supplies what you need most? Are they heavy weapons? Is it just cash?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: You mean for the army? For the soldiers?
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes.
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: So, first of all, we need a weapon. The second issue is medical care. But many countries support us in this medical field because they take our wounded soldiers and make them rehabilitation medicines. So everything is under the support of our partners. Cash in the sense of our budget is very important for the social and humanitarian responsibilities of our state towards our people, our citizens, especially for civilians.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And that’s between $ 4 billion and $ 5 billion a month that Ukraine needs.
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: Yes. Yes why…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Did you get promises for that here in Washington?
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: Yes, we have a lot of negotiations with the G20 countries, their finance ministers in those countries, the international financial organization, the IMF, the World Bank. Therefore, they all approve of this amount and all in the sense that we need humanitarian support for the internally displaced. We have 7 million internally displaced people. We have more than 10 million people suffering on the front lines or in the territories near this front line. They are also suffering in the occupied territories. So we ask the government, we ask the countries to support all these people and bring them food, water and medicine. So it also cost, for example, in March, we spent $ 1.1 billion on these seven million internally displaced people alone. But now, after the liberation of some territories of Ukraine, we also need financial support, for technologies for the activity of mining, because more than 120,000 square miles are under mines and bombs. Therefore, we should spend money and time to clean up this territory and let people return to their homes because their homes are also mined. And some of the families who come home by opening the washing machine or the freezers, and there they are, all this is extracted. Garages, basements, everything is mined by Russians ,. And many people, civilians, people are now dying in the liberated territories because of this mining of their homes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And I understand that there is mining in the Black Sea, closing these ports so that Ukraine cannot sell its goods, cannot sell its grain and move these shipments.
PRIME MINISTER SHMYHAL: The biggest challenge for the civilized world is the future food crisis, which Russia is creating right now by blocking Ukraine’s seaport because Ukraine has traditionally been a major supplier of wheat, corn and other food products to Africans, Asians and some Europeans. countries. More than 90 million tons of food production stones supplies Ukraine through sea ports. Now, Russia, first in our history, in the history of the last centuries, is blocking the seaports of another country and not letting us export our production. It is impossible to do it by rail or by rivers. You can only go through the seaport, so we ask our partners to take some steps to open this green or blue …
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