Evening Edition: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Sits Down With FOX News
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I'm Madison Allworth. I'm Juan Williams. I'm Liz Klayman. And this is the Fox News Rundown. Thursday, November 21st, 2024. I'm Eben Brown. How goes the war in Ukraine? The war-torn European country's president sits down and talks with one of ours as he gets ready for a new American president.

with very different ideas. Where the international conversation objectively needs to go is what comes next? Will the incoming Trump administration allow Ukraine to continue fighting with an understanding that if they're not successful in the early months of doing so, that they would have to come to the negotiating table? Or will President Trump immediately try to bring both Putin and Zelensky to the table and try to cut a deal? This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. ♪

From the Fox News Podcasts Network, I'm Ben Domenech, Fox News contributor and editor of the Transom.com daily newsletter, and I'm inviting you to join a conversation every week. It's the Ben Domenech Podcast. Subscribe and listen now by going to FoxNewsPodcasts.com. Ukraine's war has maybe taken another dark turn, making use of both U.S. and British missiles as offensive weapons.

Ukraine fired at Russian military installations. In response, Russia returned fire using an RU-26 missile, something that, depending on the warhead, could qualify as an intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM. We're still getting clarity on what exactly took place. And Russian President Vladimir Putin says that,

This strike was carried out by a ballistic missile with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead. Fox's Trey Yinks, who had been in Israel covering its war against Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime. He had covered the earlier days of the war in Ukraine. Now he's traveled back there and was treated to spend some considerable time with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trey speaks to us from Kiev and will tell us about this meeting with the president. But first, he briefs us on this latest escalation. It's an indication that the Russians are ramping up their attacks against Ukraine. And it's not unexpected, given the fact that they publicly talked about if Ukraine started to use weapons.

U.S. or British-supplied missiles into Russian territory, that they would escalate this conflict. And that's exactly what we've seen happen this week. And it's really put the war between Russia and Ukraine back in the headlines because there is real concern that what's happening on the ground right now will not be contained.

And by Putin making this address to the world right now, he's trying to issue a warning that he's willing to escalate the situation. And the Ukrainians understand they're headed into the winter months, they're running low on air defense, and they have to ration

their ability to shoot down incoming missiles, while the Russians have the ability to produce more. And so it's a very volatile situation, and it's unfolding as we speak. The talk of escalation, I think, certainly scares everyone. And some might have seen what the Ukrainians did as the escalation, or at least not helping to de-escalate anyway. What has been the Ukrainian analysis of that, if you could give us a bit more on that? Yeah, the Ukrainians have pointed out that

Russia started this invasion. None of this would be happening if Vladimir Putin didn't order his forces into Ukraine on February 24th of 2022. But the situation now has expanded to a nearly three-year conflict, more than a thousand days in. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. The majority are soldiers on the front lines. But there's no end in sight for the war because both sides do not see eye to eye and they're not even talking. There are no peace talks taking place.

And so Ukraine is pointing the finger at Russia. Russia is pointing the finger at Ukraine. And the result is an escalation ladder that is incredibly unstable.

And that's part of what we're seeing unfold right now. You've had the chance to meet again with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. You've met him before. I believe this is the first time in a while for you seeing each other. He's probably a bit of a different person. I'd love to hear your impressions about how he is and what's changed about him. And then we can get into a bit more about what you spoke about. So I saw Zelensky yesterday.

in Kherson in the days before the ground invasion started. And at that time, he actually didn't agree with some Western analysts who thought Russia was going to launch a full-scale invasion. He thought it was going to be limited to the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

And I questioned him there in Gerson. The ground invasion started and then there were other opportunities where I saw him in press settings such as briefings that he did to the media. But I interviewed him last year in February and we talked about the situation on the ground. And then just this week, I was with his team.

private circle, his private circle for around 24 hours. My team and I traveled to the Eastern Donbas region on his secret train. We had to arrive at a train station in the middle of the night, board, and we didn't even know the destination that we were going to. It was that secret because they're concerned that the Russians will try to kill Zelensky. And I was able to speak with him on the front lines as he met with soldiers. I then interviewed him for around an hour on the train ride back to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

And I think many of the issues that he was facing at the beginning of the war and when we spoke last February are the same. He is frustrated with the amount of Western support, but more frustrated with the timeline of Western support. And we saw this issue at the beginning of the war. The aid was trickling into Ukraine and Ukraine.

The Ukrainians would ask for things, the US would say no, then they would say yes, but then they wouldn't send the weapons and then they would send them but they would have restrictions on them. And it's happening now at a different scale. But remember, the one thing to keep in mind about what's really changed from the beginning of the war to now is what the battlefield looks like. In the early days, the Russians were trying to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The battle for Kyiv took place just a few miles from where I'm standing now, and we were there on the front lines covering that as it unfolded. At the time, the Ukrainians really needed anti-tank missiles. They needed to be able to stop this Russian advance on this city of 4 million people. The conflict now has shifted to, in many places along the front line, a war of attrition. The Ukrainians and the Russians are using artillery units, and they're firing at each other from a relatively long distance apart.

And there are places where the Russians are advancing. And so it's a mixture of weapons that are needed. But as we've seen, even just this week, a lot of the fire coming from Russia now is in the form of missiles, some produced in Russia, some bought from Iran. And then, of course, the drones that have targeted major population centers across Ukraine. And so it's a really complex battlefield and it's a front line that is more than 600 miles long.

And so the dynamic is quite difficult for the Ukrainians. And that's something that when Zelensky and I were on the front lines, we spoke about. He talked about the fact that his country has to ration the military aid that they have because they just don't have enough. And that's not even to mention the fact that they don't have enough people. He did make some comments about the future proceedings of this war. I want to play you one of those answers. This is what he had to say.

We're standing on the moment when you can lose or you can win. It's really very near because if the morale will decrease of our soldiers and if we will not get support from our

Allies, we will lose. Support from the Allies. You mentioned even before I played that soundbite that he had been frustrated with the levels of support from the Allies.

There's a sentiment that has grown considerably here domestically in the United States that we have given, especially us, the U.S., have given the Ukrainians a lot, a lot of weapons and certainly a lot of, you know, in aggregate, you know, money in terms of value between weapons and money, just in terms of billions of dollars.

I don't think I'm wrong in asking what more is he expecting at this point? The Ukrainians are looking at the situation in relation to the Russian army, an army that in many regards is 10 times larger than their own with more advanced weapons and arguably, more importantly, production capabilities to keep making those weapons and a style of battle that values human life less.

They're willing to send not only Russian troops, but now North Korean troops as cannon fodder toward the front lines. And so it's interesting because when you talk to Zelensky, you understand where he's coming from. Despite the fact that billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been sent to Ukraine, he says it's not enough. And he's right, but he's sort of out of options because he admitted to me that if the U.S. military funding to Ukraine is cut, Ukraine will lose the war.

That was the first time that he's been so blunt about that fact. And I found that as one of the biggest takeaways from our sit-down interview is that he said they will lose if the funding is cut. But it's no secret that the United States is paying a disproportionate amount to Ukraine's war efforts in comparison to most European allies to Ukraine. Now, there are exceptions to that, like the Germans, for example. But there are many European countries who are helping Ukraine, but at a disproportionate

amount compared to their GDP as it relates to the United States. And so that's been a lot of the frustration among lawmakers. I think there's been objectively a lot of misinformation about the conflict and even about Zelensky himself. That's part of why I felt it was important to be here on the ground talking to him, because we're here to get the facts of the situation. And the facts are that Ukraine is a very complex and complicated country, like all countries around the world. It's a country that

historically has been plagued by corruption and misuse of funds. And there's certainly still some of that going on today. Largely speaking, they are trying to maintain the sovereignty of Ukraine. That's what the forces on the front lines are doing. They're trying to stop the Russian advance. And while the Ukrainians have

launched a limited operation into southern Russia, into the Kursk region where those North Korean troops are currently staging alongside the Russians. It's limited in nature and it's quite small actually in comparison to the territory that is currently being occupied by Russian forces. Around 20% of Ukraine right now is actually being held by the Russians.

But it does raise questions about how this will end. And that was, I think, where our conversation went. And I think where the international conversation objectively needs to go is what comes next? Will the incoming Trump administration allow Ukraine to continue fighting with an understanding that if they're not successful in the early months of doing so, that they would have to come to the negotiating table? Or will President Trump immediately try to bring both Putin and Zelensky to the table and try to cut a deal?

And I think that was also a really interesting takeaway from our interview is that we had a very frank discussion about Ukrainian territory and the fact that Ukraine's not going to get back all of their land. And based on international law, that's objectively illegal and it's wrong.

But it's the reality of the situation when you have hundreds of thousands of Russian forces who have been told to hold territory that they now occupy. We're speaking with Fox News correspondent Trey Yinks, who is in Kiev and has spoken with that country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. On the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition, we'll have more straight ahead.

You talked about the future of the war and you've alluded to the coming of the Trump administration or the resumption of the Trump administration, depending on how we're going to look at this. During the campaign, the former president, now president-elect, has said that he would be able to end this war within 24 hours. That may have been hyperbole on his part, but it's certainly no secret that the incoming president wants to get everyone talking and get the fighting stopped.

noting how many people have died so far. In fact, that has sort of been the cornerstone of any answer he's given on the matter. You asked President Zelensky about this as well and whether or not he would be welcoming of a Donald Trump effort to not necessarily fund the continuing of the war, but to work to end it. And this was President Zelensky's answer. It will be not simple.

But I think if to use all the issues what United States has, yes, he can, because he is much more stronger than Putin. He's stronger. United States stronger. Economy stronger.

you know, money, big money. United States has big, very big influence. What did he mean that President Trump is stronger than Putin? I'm certain that President Trump would love to hear that. But what does that mean? He feels that the Americans have more leverage over the Russians because they have the ability to sanction sensitive Russian individuals and also companies. He also feels that militarily, the United States is stronger. And so I think that

He meant that in a literal way and also a figurative way because he wanted to send a message to President Trump that he's willing to work with him and that he sees him as a strong leader. And I did feel that during our conversation, he took a number of opportunities to make that point because he wants to go into these negotiations with an upper hand. He wants to go in having the man who says he's going to make a deal like him, which I think makes sense. And I also think that

it's a position that illustrates where Ukraine is at right now. I mean, they are going to have to have the Americans on their side or they're going to lose the war, as Zelensky said himself.

And so I think it illustrates the complex reality that Ukraine faces at the moment. Part of, I think, some of the difficulties President Zelensky may have been having as of late is that he sort of had to compete for attention with the American foreign policy community. And that attention has been divvied up between both his war and Israel's war against Hamas. You've been covering both.

really upfront and whatnot. Does he feel that he has to compete in any kind of way for that type of attention? Does he understand that there's more than one conflict going on and that's just sort of the reality of the nature? He definitely understands this and it's interesting just to watch the news cycle unfold, right? Because for a year and a half, the entire focus of the world was on the Middle East and now it is starting to shift back to Ukraine and

And I think in many ways that actually helps Zelenskyy because Ukraine is part of the dialogue in the halls of Congress. It's part of the dialogue in the White House. And it's no longer the second most important foreign policy story. It's tied for first. And I think that from Zelenskyy's perspective, trying to gain U.S. support and ensure that it's still there during this incoming administration, I think that he

sees this as a net positive for him, despite the fact that his country is facing more intense attacks. The fact that people are paying attention is half the battle for Ukraine. You're visiting Kyiv for the first time in a while. You remember the city before the war began. You remember the people of Kyiv and of Ukraine before the war began and the beginning of the war. What's different now for these people, for the average Ukrainian who...

their life has certainly been upended and they're not necessarily powerful enough to really stop anything. What's striking is the fact that these air raid sirens continue each and every day, multiple times a day, more than a thousand days into the war. And so that's very similar from a just vibe across the city. People have to stay close to shelters, understanding that there could be drones or missiles in the skies at any moment.

There are small signs that you notice about the war. And I'll just give you an example today. I was walking around downtown Kyiv, around Maidan Square, and there was a soldier walking into a bank and he had on a uniform. And when you looked at his leg, one of his legs had been blown off and he had a prosthetic leg on. And you saw a few young men who maybe traditionally would be working in one of the stores downtown or at a coffee shop.

And one guy walked by and he had a rucksack with him filled with military gear. And so this is a country that's at war. And there are small signs that the war continues and everyone is affected by it. And you just you meet people each and every day, whether it's a waiter or the person that you get a coffee from and they talk about the war. It's in the conversation, much like it was at the beginning. But everyone's affected and

You can see in their eyes that it is taking a toll. People are tired here. You imagine a country that's been at war for nearly three years. Everyone knows someone who was affected or killed and they want it to end. But they also know that if they give up, then Russia wins. And there is a pride among the Ukrainian people that

They can't let that happen. And so that's why they continue to fight. Trey Yink, star correspondent in Kiev, having had a chance to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Thank you so much for joining us on the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. Thank you. Thank you.

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