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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Speaks at Munich Security Conference; IDF Says Released Hostages Now Back in Israel; Trump Officials Hire, Then Rehire Nuclear Stockpile Workers. Aired 5- 6a ET
Aired February 15, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you get a commitment from president Trump that you would meet with him first?
Do you have a plan to meet with the president?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: No, we have our plan. Of course it's our country and that's why it's our plan. I think it's understandable. But we need common view. That's why we are ready for the common plan. And I share this --
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: -- asking whether -- because president Trump says he'll meet Putin maybe in Saudi Arabia, maybe soon.
Has he said he will meet you?
ZELENSKYY: He said to me that we have -- we have to meet. And I said to him also, we have to meet. I think that I said first that we have to meet. Yes. And -- but we understood each other because I didn't say about it once.
AMANPOUR: You said it several times.
ZELENSKYY: Yes. So that's why I think we understood each other. And it's very important. Yes. Because if we can repeat the words, that each day we have losses. And if President of the United States or other leaders repeat this words, Ukraine has losses. We have to stop the war.
I mean that it meant that we have urgently to meet if we really want to stop, to meet with the concrete dates and dates and plans.
AMANPOUR: So you talk about losses, obviously heavy losses. You mentioned Russia's heavy losses as well. You were talking to president Trump and you know that, last year, around this time last year, it was president Trump and his allies in Congress, which delayed for approximately seven months the aid that was meant to come to Ukraine. When I spoke to General Sikorski (ph), your commander in Ukraine, just
a few months ago, he said the delay in aid did cost lives, cost territory and cost a lot of strategic effort in Ukraine.
Did you mention that to president Trump?
ZELENSKYY: No.
AMANPOUR: I see.
ZELENSKYY: We spoke about delaying and about decision of the Congress and at least positive decision. I was thankful to him. It was in September when we had meeting during his election period, I think so, or before the election period, I don't -- before. A little bit before. Yes, yes.
So it was very important the decision. I was thankful bipartisan support. And also Mike Johnson, he made positive decision. So -- and also to president Trump because if, I mean, if he wouldn't be supportive, they couldn't vote this decision.
But really, help, which we needed very much, still is going. I mean, not everything came, you understand. So it's very slow. And I think General Sikorski (ph) was right. One of the reasons why we lost. But I don't want to speak about kilometers.
But I'm ready. I mean, there's -- yes, we lost about 4,000 square kilometers. Yes. But, of course, if the help could come, you know, very quickly, everybody understand that we -- that the losses was, I mean, this -- we --
AMANPOUR: I understand.
ZELENSKYY: -- we could be in more good conditions.
AMANPOUR: And precisely because of where you would need to be to have a negotiation to end the war, that's why I asked you this. So you talked about security guarantees.
What details do you think about, what would be a security guarantee apart from joining NATO right now?
What would be a security guarantee in any ceasefire or to freeze or monitor any line of contact, which is some 1,300 kilometers long?
Because already, Defense Secretary Hegseth said there'd be no U.S. troops. We don't know what it looks like.
What do you think it looks like?
ZELENSKYY: More strong sanctions. Not if they will invade again, just more strong sanctions at the very beginning. Then, like you said, really difficult to hold the border, long border, yes, for Ukraine and Ukrainian soldiers. That's why we need big army. I shared it yesterday. Yes, we need army more than now. If we are not in NATO, then, as I
said, NATO has to be in Ukraine. It means only one, that we will need the army, comparable with soldiers of Russia. It's 1.3 million or 1.5 million soldiers.
So we need money for this. The package of money, real money. And it's big deficit even today. For us, it's 40 billion per year. So this money and then weapon and the package of missiles, what was written in the victory plan, the package which we will not use.
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We will not use but it has to stand on our territory. And if Putin will begin new invasion, we will use it. So I think, these issues are very important. This is priority.
AMANPOUR: And foreign troops, European troops?
ZELENSKYY: Yes. We are open for this initiative. We understand. I mean, mostly we understand the details. But we need to discuss these details with leaders. I don't want to be now, you know, very loud about it. So -- but we understand that we need it. It will help us.
AMANPOUR: And one other big question. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, came to your country; I believe, essentially gave you a notice that this is what the administration wants in terms of how much of your rare earth minerals.
Trump himself has said, I want $500 billion worth and that would be fair, he said.
What is your response to that?
I know you've been talking about rare earths, even under the --
(CROSSTALK)
ZELENSKYY: Still talking.
AMANPOUR: Yes. So what is -- where do you stand on that?
ZELENSKYY: We're still talking.
AMANPOUR: So not 500 million?
ZELENSKYY: You know, that's in our history, in our history. There have been a lot of different dialogs with different American administrations from even from my first year of my term, from 2019. So I had a lot of different dialogs and we are in process.
AMANPOUR: Finally, I want to ask you follow up on what ambassador said in the -- in his introduction, the political situation in Ukraine. You've been in power for a long time. There's martial law. You haven't had elections since then. Your mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has criticized you for that and for many other things.
Putin himself calls you illegitimate. He says, I'm not going to negotiate with an illegitimate president.
What is your view on when the time will be right for actual elections?
During ceasefire talks, after a ceasefire or what?
ZELENSKYY: Interesting what Klitschko said about me. I really didn't.
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: I'm telling you what your opponents -- and some members of civil society.
ZELENSKYY: OK.
Oh, I'm surprised. I mean that Klitschko is a great sportsman but I didn't know that he is great speaker.
(LAUGHTER)
ZELENSKYY: But I respect him. So I'm focusing on surviving of our country and I am doing really all my term. Beginning from different dialects, as I said to you, continuing with COVID, as all of us. But half of my term was COVID, another half is war with Putin or against him. Yes.
So this is what really very important. I'm ready, you know, to speak about elections, if you want. Ukrainians don't want -- totally don't want because they afraid. Because otherwise we will lose the military law, war law. And our soldiers will come back home and Putin will occupy all our territory.
It will be because now we mobilized. Now we are one organism. Yes. So we are one country. Yes. That's why it's very important to hold and to save it. And it doesn't matter. I mean, this -- we need unity in country.
So it's not about, you know, myself. It's about the future of our country. It's about for today, really. The question is to survive. The question is to save Ukraine, our independence, our people, our homes. And if somebody doesn't like, they can choose another citizenship if they want.
We have real state.
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: Did you say, what, real estate?
AMANPOUR: Yes. I think I have time for one question from the audience, maybe one or two.
Somebody got a question for the president?
Apparently not.
What is 2025 going to be in Ukraine? Do you believe it will be the year of peace?
And more to the point, do you believe Putin has any intention of allowing a independent, sovereign Ukraine?
ZELENSKYY: We really want peace and we work on it. We will prepare security guarantees like we see. We will share it with the United States. And I hope they will share their view. As I said, common view for me is very important to hear. All our partners in Europe who helped us in E.U. plus, of course.
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Because U.K., our partners, big partners. And that's why it's very important to prepare during months all these things, to share it with the president of the United States, to find time for this, to our common meetings.
To make this common plan, then to put it on the table for Putin and do everything that things. What really, president Trump is strong. He can do, put sanctions or pressure in any way. In any case, how he wants. And after that to stop this war.
This year, 2025, make a peace in Ukraine. This is our plan. That's what we really want and that's what we will try to do.
AMANPOUR: Did you tell us, was reported president Trump, that Putin is only doing this and agreeing to talks because he's afraid of Trump?
Did you tell him that?
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
I told Trump that Putin afraid of him. Yes. And he heard me. And now Putin knows.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
AMANPOUR: I shouldn't be laughing. But you do make me smile.
So --
ZELENSKYY: We want peace.
AMANPOUR: -- thank you very much.
ZELENSKYY: We have to live and we have to smile when we have time, of course.
(APPLAUSE)
ZELENSKYY: Thank you. Thank you. Slava Ukraini.
AMANPOUR: Thank you. It's very good. (APPLAUSE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You have been watching CNN's Christiane Amanpour interview Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, live from the Munich Security Conference.
And we have heard from him, both in a speech that he gave and then in his comments with Christiane, talking about need for security guarantees, the ongoing war with Russia.
And also talking about where the U.S. could come into play in a Trump administration. So he said that he would not accept any peace deal that would be done behind Ukraine's back.
He urged Europe to form a coordinated policy to end the war in his country and he received a standing ovation. He also said that the continent faces a simple choice now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: Some in Europe may be frustrated with Brussels but let's be clear. If not Brussels, then Moscow. It's your decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: If I recall, that received some boos in the crowd.
Mr. Zelenskyy spoke a day after U.S. vice president JD Vance addressed the same gathering. And Vance laid into European leaders, accusing them of backsliding on democracy and restricting freedoms.
Germany's defense minister is calling the accusations unacceptable, while a Ukrainian parliament member said the U.S. is using Europeans as vassal states. In his criticism of Europe, Vance didn't mention the real autocrats, like in Russia and Belarus, but he said this about European democracies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people.
Europe faces many challenges but the crisis this continent faces right now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own making. If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: OK, let's now head over to Munich, where the second day of the security conference is underway. Alex Marquardt is joining us from there.
Alex, it was striking to see just the reception that Volodymyr Zelenskyy was getting there at the security conference and that he seemed to be trying to rally Europeans, to unite, to stand up to Moscow at a time when U.S. support for the transatlantic alliance seems to be very much in the air.
What is your take on this?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ivan, it was striking in so many ways. This was always going to be the highlight of the second day of this conference., of course. Everyone watching very closely JD Vance just yesterday. But the two side by side could not have been more different.
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So many people listening to JD Vance in silence, in stunned shock, because of the scolding, essentially the dressing down that they were getting from the American vice president.
And here you had consistent applause interrupting Ukraine's president throughout his speech. It was striking also in its substance, Ivan, in -- essentially the Ukrainian president saying that we can no longer count on the United States. We can only count on ourselves.
It was a rallying cry for Europe, not just in rhetoric but also in points that he was trying to put forward. He said that that Europe needs to create armed forces of Europe, that a military force needs to be created because the U.S. can no longer be counted on.
He did point to JD Vance, his speech also, and essentially saying that the relationship that the U.S. has had with Europe is ending and that we need to adjust. We cannot rule out one day that the U.S. could say no. Here's a little bit more of what he said about this U.S.-Europe relationship. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Some in Europe may not fully understand what's happening in Washington right now. But let's focus on understanding ourselves right here in Europe. We must give strength to Europe first.
Does America need Europe as a market?
Yes. But as an ally. I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: I mean, Ivan, that is just extraordinary.
Does Europe need us as an ally?
I don't know. Yes, as a market but not sure about an ally.
He went on to say, I urge you to act for your own sake.
This is a man who sounded scorned. He sounded like he feels like he has been abandoned by the United States. Of course, he had his own conversation with JD Vance yesterday. He has spoken on the phone with the American president in the past few days.
There are significant worries among the Ukrainians and the Europeans that Donald Trump is cozying up to Vladimir Putin. And this does appear to be a new day, not just in this conflict in Ukraine but in the relationship between Europe and the United States.
That is certainly what Zelenskyy is saying and which boils down to, we need to look out for ourselves. Just a remarkable speech from the Ukrainian president, Ivan.
WATSON: So we heard applause in the room. Alex.
But how is -- are his words likely to be received by Europe?
Different countries facing elections; Germany in the near future?
When you have a non-E.U. leader, a candidate country, fighting an existential war against a Russian invader, trying to urge the Europeans to unite, to stand up for themselves, when he isn't really a full fledged member of the European Union.
MARQUARDT: Yes, and how this will all play into NATO membership remains to be seen. Of course, he spoke directly to Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, saying what I'm proposing is not meant to replace the NATO alliance. But essentially he's saying that this is -- this is the time for us to build up our own, our own thing, essentially.
And he pointed to the ongoing external threat from Russia. We should note that he did talk about what Ukrainian intelligence has seen and that is a continued buildup of Russian forces. He says that in the next few months that they are going to build 15 new brigades, 150,000 troops.
He says that, by the summer, the Russian troops are going to move into Belarus, ostensibly for exercises. But that, of course, is something that we have seen before in the leadup to the war in Ukraine. Of course, Russian troops invaded in part from Belarus.
He said he doesn't know whether these troops are going to be invading Ukraine or the rest of Europe. This is a theme that we have heard from President Zelenskyy before, to unify Europe, to get Europe's backing; essentially, that Ukraine is doing the fighting for the Europeans.
They are facing against the Russians, facing off against the Russians, for the Europeans. So certainly he is hoping that this will be a rallying cry for the Europeans, to gather around him and to realize that the relationship with the United States going forward is going to be very different.
But we do have to see what that European reaction is going to be. Ivan.
WATSON: All right. Alex Marquardt live from the Munich Security Conference.
Thank you very much for wrapping that up for us.
And we will be right back with more of today's top stories after this break.
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WATSON: Welcome back to the program.
An update now on the breaking news in Gaza. Three Israeli former hostages are now going through medical assessments in Israel. Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released the men in Khan Yunis a short time ago.
The three appeared to be in better health than the hostages released one week ago. In exchange for these three men, Israel is releasing 369 Palestinians it was holding prisoner.
And this video from Ramallah earlier shows some of them after being released. For more on this, we're going to go to CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, joining us live from Tel Aviv.
So Nic, the release of Palestinian prisoners, that is the second part of today's prisoner exchange.
What can you tell us about what we've seen now with the release of presumably hundreds of Palestinian prisoners?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's -- the whole day of releases is a sequenced event. And the part that we've just witnessed in the West Bank at the moment in Ramallah is a release of the some of the 36 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails that were charged or were being held on life sentences.
Of those 36, 24 were due to be expelled. So that leaves a residual 12 to be released. And not all of those were going to be released into the West Bank.
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Now the vast majority of the 369 Palestinians to be released today, expected to be released, the 333 who were detained inside of Gaza and that 300, those 333 are expected to be released directly into Gaza in a couple of different locations at some point in the coming hours.
So what we're beginning to witness is that the first elements of some of those Palestinian prisoners and detainees to be released, so those in the West Bank, they're ones who were on serving life sentences in Israeli jails, been released.
But the majority of that 36, Israel has decided to expel out of the country and their precise whereabouts expected to be Egypt. Initially, their precise whereabouts aren't clear.
At this time in Hostage Square, obviously, a lot of celebration going on. People standing here in front of the big screens, watching Israeli TV play out, images of families celebrating. And one still image, very poignant for so many people here, was Sagui Dekel-Chen, the 36 year old Israeli American, embracing his wife, Avital, a still picture.
Very touching for the audience here to see that. They've had a child. She has borne a child into the family while he's been in captivity. Just a few months after he was taken hostage, their third daughter was born. And no doubt he'll get to meet her for the first time in the coming hours as well.
It's an emotional rollercoaster for everyone here and for all the other families waiting.
And I think as we're getting a closer look at some of the images, although the three men today, Sasha Troufanov, the Russian Israeli; Iair Horn, the 46 year old Argentinian Israeli; although they look in decent health, we can both see on Iair and on Sagui that they've lost weight. You can definitely see that.
But the image is beginning to come through. They are meeting their family. They're embracing their family members, the most cherished members of their families. Of course, they're in the -- they are in, getting sort of assessment of their medical/mental condition, et cetera.
But being reintroduced, the beginning of the reintroduction, to their old lives begins here, begins today, after 498 days of captivity.
WATSON: It is certainly a dramatic day of releases, with Israeli hostages coming home, some having lost loved ones or the birth of a new child. And Palestinians returning to Gaza, perhaps to destroyed homes and loved ones who may have perished in 15 months of conflict.
Nic Robertson, live in Tel Aviv, thank you very much for bringing us up to date.
Now still ahead, Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a passionate speech to world leaders and speaks with CNN's Christiane Amanpour as he looks to strengthen Ukraine's hand against Russia. The latest from the Munich Security Conference. Next.
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WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has just addressed the annual
Munich Security Conference. Among the points he made, Ukraine will not accept any peace deal done behind its back.
And he urged Europe to form a coordinated policy to end the war in his country. Now CNN's chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, interviewed Mr. Zelenskyy right after that speech and she joins us now from Munich.
Great to see you, Christiane. I'd like to ask first, you know, in his speech there, it sounded like he was trying to send a wakeup call to Europe, that the relations between Europe and the U.S. are changing.
Is that how you interpreted his message to the room?
AMANPOUR: Yes. Yes, to an extent, Ivan. If I could just frame it in this way, yesterday's speech by the U.S. vice president went down like a lead balloon in this room, very scoldy; barely a mention of Russia or Ukraine. But it was celebrated in Russia on state television.
This speech today went down very well in the room. No matter the challenges he put down to Europe and, to have to really face this, Russia, in a much more strong way. It is unlikely to go down well in Russia because he did say Putin does not want peace.
Whatever, President Trump has had a call with him, he said Putin does not want peace. And he insisted that any peace negotiations, any talks, any movement toward what president Trump has said he wants to do, which is end this war, had to happen with Ukraine at the table.
And on top of that, this comes after the Europeans say it cannot happen without Europe at the table, either. So that was a huge, huge gauntlet he threw down. He really said Europe must also stand up an army.
He pretty much intimated that, with this administration, he could see the direction of travel, that they weren't as committed to Europe and to the transatlantic alliance as perhaps in the past.
Even though Vance did say yesterday that the transatlantic alliance does mean a very -- does remain a very important partnership for the United States. He wanted obviously more aid and particularly the kind of military aid and support that would allow Ukraine to come to the negotiating table with at least some chips in their pockets.
As he said, we held off Russia on our own; no foreign weapons, no foreign troops at the beginning.
We stopped them at the beginning. We're very grateful for everything that we've gotten so far. But if we're going to have a just peace that is not just an abject surrender, we need more in order to be able to be serious partners at the negotiating table.
He also said in response to president Trump saying that he would soon meet with Putin, perhaps in Saudi Arabia, he said, Zelenskyy said to me that he had told president Trump on their phone call that it -- he needed to talk to him as well and meet with him as well.
And he said, I hope he meets with me before he meets with president Trump (sic). So there was a lot going on there, a lot going on. It was a very robust speech. He was very clear eyed and he said also --
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And there was a sort of a gasp in the room, actually, almost like he put a doomsday scenario out.
He said, if Europe and we, Ukraine, don't stand up and face down Russia, the center of power will either be in Brussels -- then he took a beat -- or in Moscow.
And that shocked so many people. But he was making a point that this is a real matter of existential survival, not just for Ukraine but for all of Europe as well.
And I think that it's really very interesting because you can see both the Europeans and the Ukrainians, sort of, at least rhetorically, accepting and moving a little bit away from the United States being the all important protector and saying that they have to do it themselves. But they can't they can't lose this fight. Ivan.
WATSON: Christina, I think I heard President Zelenskyy actually tell you that it would be dangerous if president Trump met Russian President Putin before he met with the Ukrainian side.
And you were clearly trying to pin him down and learn more about his interactions with Trump. I think one moment that stuck out was that he asserted that Trump is afraid of Putin and that got a laugh in the room.
Right?
AMANPOUR: No, the other way around. He said that he --
(CROSSTALK)
WATSON: Oh, sorry -- Putin is afraid of Trump. I'm so sorry.
AMANPOUR: -- he was afraid of him. Yes, yes, yes. And it's OK. And then he said and now Putin knows I said it as well.
So you know, he's -- he, you know, he brings his incredible communication skills to bear. He's sending messages to Russia all the time. And I will say he's sending direct and strong messages to Putin ahead of any talks while the U.S. is sending very mixed messages to Putin.
Here in the room yesterday, for instance, a lot of the Europeans were quite alarmed that the message coming out of the United States appeared to be on Putin's terms, taking Putin's talking points. And they want to stop that.
You know, they say this is not the way to start any kind of negotiation. So you know, there's a lot of work to be done, as Zelenskyy said, a lot of work to be done before we even sit down.
He did say -- and he repeated what he said. And he told Trump that our conversation hasn't got enough details to be called a plan for these talks. So we must all work on more efforts to actually draw up what is our united posture as Europeans, as NATO, as Ukrainians, to confront Putin.
So I think that's all really interesting. And let's not forget again that Trump mused -- and I put this to him as well -- that, you know, maybe Ukraine will be sovereign. Maybe it will be part of Russia. Maybe it was really Ukraine that started this war, because taking the Russian talking point about the expansion of NATO, et cetera.
And, you know, he was very clear on where the line had to be drawn. So it was fascinating to hear him, because this is a very, very critical moment in the ongoing war. And if there's to be any attempt to actually settle this in a way that will benefit everybody this year. Ivan.
WATSON: All right. Christiane Amanpour, live from Munich. Thank you for your coverage as change appears to be in the air and for correcting me with my just dumb mistake. So we'll follow you and your ongoing coverage of this important security conference.
Now coming up after the break, Christiane just mentioned the mixed messages coming out of the Trump White House. You'll hear what one Ukrainian representative says about Zelenskyy's speech and the state of Ukrainian-U.S. relations. Stay with CNN.
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WATSON: Welcome back.
Ukraine is trying to decode mixed messages coming from Washington with its future hanging in the balance. The U.S. president, vice president and the Secretary of Defense said different things in recent days about Ukraine possibly joining NATO and about whether U.S. troops would be deployed to provide security guarantees after the war.
To add to the confusion, vice president JD Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference Friday and slammed the state of democracy in Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor.
And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values. And of all the pressing challenges that the nations represented here face, I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration.
If American Democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg's scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: While in Munich, Vance also met the Ukrainian president, who urged the U.S. not to make any decisions on Ukraine without Kyiv. One Ukrainian lawmaker slammed Vance's speech and used a Valentine's Day reference to make his point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLEKSIY GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN MP: Very striking speech of vice president Vance right now. He was very critical toward Europe, not so much toward Russia. He almost didn't mention Russia and Russian war against Ukraine.
So my question is today the happy Valentine's Day?
Happy Valentine's Day to everybody. Love and marriage between an alliance between America and Europe made both sides of Atlantic Ocean great.
You now want to make America great again.
But is it right at the beginning to make America single again?
(LAUGHTER)
GONCHARENKO: Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And now, Alexei Goncharenko, member of the Ukrainian parliament, joins me from Munich, Germany.
Thank you, sir. I'd like to ask, based on what we've been hearing from the past couple of days, certainly coming out of the Trump administration, are you concerned about the state of U.S. commitment to Ukraine as it continues to fight the full scale Russian invasion?
GONCHARENKO: Yes, I am concerned and it was really very disappointing that vice president Vance didn't mention at all the war in Ukraine and the war in Europe, being in Europe at Munich Security Conference, at security conference.
With all respect to all topics he raised but it is security conference. When he said the most the biggest threat to security of Europe is not Russia and China.
So who is? So it really I don't -- I don't understand it and don't accept it. So
yes, we are concerned. I hope that, maybe it was just kind of, you know, political gesture to Europe or something like this. We will see in the near future.
But I want to remind all of us that United States said we will support Ukraine as long as it takes.
If it is finishing right now, what will what it will mean?
[05:45:04]
How much will it cost the word of the United States on the world stage after this?
WATSON: We just heard from the Ukrainian president speaking within the last hour live, kind of trying to rally for some kind of European unity, as it does appear that the Trump administration is evolving, at least when it comes to U.S. support for Kyiv. Let's take a listen to an excerpt of what President Zelenskyy had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
We really want peace and we work on it. We will prepare security guarantees like we see. We will share it with the United States. And I hope they will share their view. As I said, common view for me is very important to hear. All our partners in Europe who helped us in E.U. plus, of course.
Because U.K., our partners, big partners. And that's why it's very important to prepare during months all these things, to share it with the president of the United States, to find time for this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: You know, I -- a question for you, sir.
If the Trump administration does back away from supporting Ukraine in this war, can your country go it alone with just European support?
GONCHARENKO: We will fight in any way. It's very important to remember that, in 2022, it was not American Marines who stopped Russians in suburbs of Kyiv. It was Ukrainian army with Ukrainian weapons, by the way.
At that time we received close to nothing from our allies, from the point of view of weaponry. So -- but we did it. So we will fight in any way. But definitely it will be extremely hard for us. So I hope Europe will stand with us.
And I'm sure Europe will, because president Trump was absolutely right when he said recently that, for United States of America, there is an ocean between USA and Russia. But for Europe there is just Ukraine in between Russia and Europe.
But I would like to add to what president Trump said, that there is an ocean. Yes, that's true. There is an ocean.
But if from all sides, from ocean, there not be allies of the United States, what will the United States do?
I really think that it's a bad idea for United States to lose its allies. And I'm sure president Trump doesn't want this, because the strength of America comes from its allies also, not just from American strength itself.
So this is very important. We need America. America needs us. I really believe in this. And we shouldn't give such gifts to Putin, to chairman Xi or to other tyrants in the world because they are looking very closely on what's happening.
WATSON: Sir, you said the U.S. needs Ukraine. It sounds like the Trump administration wants Ukrainian rare earth metals and that there is talk of some kind of transactional exchange for U.S. support and funding is Ukrainian resources.
What is your view on that?
GONCHARENKO: You know, the main, the rarest earth in the in the world is courage. And the biggest asset of Ukraine is that we can export our courage of our people. That is our biggest asset.
But yes, we also have rare earth minerals and we are ready to work together with the United States in producing them. It's absolutely OK. We, with our partners and allies also, to work economically, that's great.
Also, don't forget that Ukraine is one of the biggest exporters of food in the world. So food security of the world is at stake, too. And don't forget, finally, that it's not a charity from the United States to support Ukraine.
In 1994, Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nukes because of pressure from the United States, United Kingdom and Russia. But for about Russia, everything is clear. So we did a lot for nonproliferation policy in the world. So now we really need support of the countries which guaranteed us, at that time, our security.
And you see what's happening right now. So, yes, we are valuable partner. We can be important ally and we are ready. And we want to be important ally of the United States of America.
WATSON: Oleksiy Goncharenko, live from the Munich Security Conference, thank you very much for speaking with me.
GONCHARENKO: Thank you.
WATSON: When we return. Massive layoffs have left thousands of federal workers without jobs. We'll have the latest developments from Washington next, after the break.
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WATSON: Welcome back.
The Trump administration fired thousands of federal workers on Thursday. Probationary employees, who have typically been employed for less than a year, were targeted at several federal agencies.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, cutting federal funding for schools that require COVID 19 vaccinations. The move is largely symbolic, since many states already bar the vaccine from inclusion in student mandates.
And the Justice Department has formally asked a federal judge to dismiss public corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, ending a days-long standoff that saw several prosecutors resign.
Sources say more than 300 workers who manage America's nuclear stockpile were also fired on Thursday amid president Donald Trump's efforts to shrink the federal workforce. Four sources tell CNN that officials did not seem to know that the national nuclear security administration oversees the country's nuclear weapons.
The terminations were reversed Friday morning after members of Congress raised concerns. An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of people affected, telling CNN, quote, "Less (sic) than 50 people were dismissed."
The executive editor at "Wired" explains how something like this could happen.
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BRIAN BARRETT, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "WIRED": It speaks to this sort of ethos that we've seen to all of this cutting, which is that it is cutting for cutting's sake.
It is, we're going to reduce the number of employees we have, are going to reduce the number of programs. We're going to reduce the amount of humanitarian aid, scientific research, you name it, just to hit a number.
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And in the process of hitting that number, if we lose really critical things, really important missions, really important research, if we lose the people who oversee the nuclear stockpile, so be it.
I'm glad that they are trying to reverse this. I hope they're able to. But I think that this is what is happening in every agency across the government.
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WATSON: And we're also learning that the White House is forcing out senior leadership at the National Archives and Records Administration. It's an agency President Trump has criticized since it asked the Justice Department to investigate his mishandling of classified documents after his first term.
Now more on the headline we brought you a moment ago. The U.S. Justice Department asking a federal judge to dismiss the public corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams. Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon and six others refused to file the motion.
Instead, they resigned in protest over an apparent quid pro quo between the mayor and the Trump administration. The seventh prosecutor released a scathing resignation letter, slamming what he called a dismissal with leverage.
He continued, and I quote, "But any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way.
"If no lawyer within earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool or enough of a coward to file your motion. But it was never going to be me."
And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. Thank you for joining us. For those of you watching in the U.S. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. And for those of you overseas, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
