Putin has already started World War Three — “the question is how to stop him,” Zelenskyy tells BBC

Vladimir Putin "has already started" World War Three and that only "intense military and economic pressure" can force him to retreat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told BBC in a weekend interview at the government headquarters in Kyiv.

"I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him," Zelenskyy said, according to the BBC. "Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves."

The interview, conducted by BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen, covered ceasefire negotiations, relations with Donald Trump, the question of Ukrainian elections, and what Zelenskyy means when he says Ukraine will win.

"What is land without people? Nothing"

Zelenskyy rejected Russia's demand that Ukraine withdraw from the 20% of the Donetsk Oblast it holds — a line of towns Ukraine calls "fortress cities" — as well as additional territory in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He framed the demand not as a territorial question but as abandonment.

"I don't look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment — weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there," he told the BBC. "And I am sure that this 'withdrawal' would divide our society."

Asked whether concessions might satisfy Putin, Zelenskyy replied that any pause would be temporary. "It would probably satisfy him for a while... he needs a pause... but once he recovers, our European partners say it could take three to five years. In my opinion, he could recover in no more than a couple of years. Where would he go next? We do not know, but that he would want to continue [the war] is a fact."

On restoring Ukraine's 1991 borders, Zelenskyy said it was "only a matter of time" but acknowledged the human cost made it impossible at present: "To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people — millions of people — because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps." He added: "And we also don't have enough weapons. That depends not just on us, but on our partners."

Trump, security guarantees, and the election question

The BBC reports that Zelenskyy addressed his fraught relationship with Donald Trump, who — on the eve of recent ceasefire talks in Geneva — said "Ukraine better come to the table fast." According to BBC's Jeremy Bowen, Trump "continues to default to putting more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia," and Western diplomats have indicated since last summer that Trump agrees with Putin that territorial concessions are key to the ceasefire he wants.

When asked whether Trump and analysts who say Ukraine cannot win have a point, Zelenskyy pushed back: "Where are you now? Today you are in Kyiv, you are in the capital of our homeland, you are in Ukraine. Will we lose? Of course not, because we are fighting for Ukraine's independence."

Reminded that Trump has accused him of being a dictator who started the war — an accusation that echoes Putin's own claims — Zelenskyy laughed. "I am not a dictator, and I didn't start the war, that's it," he said, according to the BBC.

On trust, Zelenskyy made clear that any security guarantees must survive a change in US leadership. "It is not only President Trump, we're talking about America," he said. "We want guarantees for 30 years for example. Political elites will change, leaders will change." Those guarantees, he argued, must be ratified by Congress: "Because the presidents change, but institutions stay."

On Trump's demand that Ukraine hold elections by summer, Zelenskyy said security guarantees must come first. He noted the practical obstacles — millions of Ukrainian refugees abroad, large parts of the country under Russian occupation — but added: "If this is a condition for ending the war, let's do it." He then challenged his partners directly: "You need to decide one thing: you want to get rid of me or you want to hold elections?"

Zelenskyy said he has not decided whether to run again whenever an election takes place: "I might run and might not."

Air defense and weapons manufacturing

According to the BBC, Zelenskyy identified air defense as Ukraine's "most difficult problem" and pressed for permission to manufacture American weapons under license, including Patriot missiles. "Unfortunately, our partners still do not grant licences for us to produce systems ourselves, for example, Patriot systems, or even missiles for the systems we already have," he said. Asked why, his answer was brief: "I don't know. I have no answer."

The BBC notes that while Trump has stopped almost all direct military aid shipments to Ukraine, the US still provides vital intelligence, and European countries are spending billions buying American weapons to transfer to Ukraine.

"God bless, we will be successful"

Zelenskyy described Ukraine's strategy as running "a lot of parallel steps, parallel directions" simultaneously. "You are playing chess with a lot of leaders, not with Russia," he said. "And one of these parallel ways will, I think, bring success. For us, success is to stop Putin."

Asked whether Putin would end the war without massive pressure, Zelenskyy said: "Yes and no. We will see. He doesn't want, but doesn't want doesn't mean he will not. God bless. God bless, we will be successful."

Geneva talks: Trump's pressure and mixed results

The BBC interview took place a week after the trilateral talks in Geneva which took place on 17-18 February. Hours before the negotiations began, Trump described the talks as "big" and urged Kyiv to "come to the table fast."

The Geneva round, led by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, produced mixed results. According to Euronews, RFE/RL the military track yielded near-agreement on ceasefire monitoring mechanisms with US participation. "The military basically understand how to monitor a ceasefire and the end of the war, if there is political will. They have basically agreed on pretty much everything there," Zelenskyy said after the talks, according to RFE/RL.

The political track, however, stalled over the same demand Zelenskyy rejected in the BBC interview — Russia's insistence that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas. Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky, as known for "maximalist demands," according to media, called the talks "difficult but practical." Zelenskyy said Russia was "trying to drag out the negotiations, which could have already reached the final stage."

Officials from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland held parallel meetings with the Ukrainian delegation on the sidelines. Zelenskyy called European participation "indispensable" for any final agreement. A next round is expected within days, likely again in Geneva.