NOW. BRET? >> Bret: JULIEN, LIFE FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT, THANK YOU.
>> President Trump: WILL BE MEETING WITH PUTIN. I HAD A VERY GOOD MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY. EVERYONE WANTS THE WAR TO END.
>> I HOPE WE WILL FIND SOME MORE, I DON'T KNOW, RUSSIANS HAVE TO BE READY FOR COMPROMISES BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY HAS TO BE READY. NOT ONLY UKRAINE. >> Bret: WHAT IS HAPPENING, AFTER THOSE MEETINGS TODAY AND THE MEETING IN RUSSIA?
JOINING US TONIGHT IS THE UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U. S. , OLHA STEFANISHYNA.
MADAM AMBASSADOR, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. >> THANK YOU, BRET, FOR COVERING. THANK YOU.
>> Bret: YES. GIVE US SOME BEHIND THE SCENES. OBVIOUSLY WE HEARD FROM BOTH LEADERS.
THEY EXPRESSED OPTIMISM. WHAT'S THE UKRAINIAN TAKE ON WHAT YOU TAKE FROM TODAY? >> WELL, I THINK WE SHOULD ALL UNDERSTAND THAT FOR MY PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, IT WAS NOT A ROUTINE DIPLOMATIC TRIP.
HE JUST HAD A MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT, TRAVELED LIKE 30 HOURS FROM A COUNTRY, WHICH IS ALMOST BLACKED OUT AFSHAN SEAN MISSILE ATTACKS TO CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, AND TO CIVILIANS. SO THAT MEANS THAT THE PROCESS WE'RE IN CURRENTLY, THE PROCESS OF NEGOTIATIONS, IS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO MEET, AND AFTER THAT, THE PRESIDENTS HAVE AGREED ON SEVERAL NEXT STEPS.
FIRST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IS HEADED TO MOSCOW, BUT OUR TEAM IS ALREADY ON ITS WAY TO ABUDHABI TO START THE TALKS, BILATERALLY BETWEEN THE UKRAINE AND THE UNITED STATES. MOST OF THE STEPS HAVE BEEN AGREED. I THINK IT'S THE BEGINNING OF A BIG BREAKTHROUGH.
>> Bret: MADAM AMBASSADOR, OBVIOUSLY I TALKED TO PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. ON THAT TRIP, I TALKED ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN THE PROBLEM HERE, IN HIS EYES AND SOMETIMES IN THE U. S.
NEGOTIATOR'S EYES, AND THAT IS VLADIMIR PUTIN. TAKE A LISTEN. >> IS THERE ANY INDICATION THAT YOU SEE THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN WANTS PEACE BY WHAT HE'S DOING OR SAYING?
>> ME NOT. TO BE HONEST. I DON'T TRUST PUTIN AND HE DOESN'T WANT A SUCCESSFUL UKRAINE.
>> Bret: YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS PROCESS. YOU SAY THERE IS OPTIMISM. YOU SAY IT'S GOING TO THE NEXT STEP BUT HAS THAT PART CHANGED?
>> WELL, THIS PART HAS NOT CHANGED, AND UNFORTUNATELY, WHAT YOU HEAR THE PRESIDENT SAYING IS THE SAME THING EVERY UKRAINE UNANIMOUS KNOWS. IT'S NOT A SLOGAN. IT'S NOT A MESSAGE, IT'S A SIMPLE REALITY.
AND I THINK THE TEST WILL BE A TEST ON THE LEVERAGE GIVEN TO RUSSIA BY PRESIDENT TRUMP. THE ABILITY TO END THE WAR, NEGOTIATING. OTHER THAN THAT, THE WHOLE WORLD MIGHT SEE THERE IS NO COMMITMENT TO END THE WAR, AND THE WAR, WHICH IS UNDERSTOOD, WARFARE IS SIMPLE TERROR AND SHOULD BE STOPPED.
>> Bret: THE MAP 457B9 CHANGED MUCH AS YOU LOOK AT THE CONTROL MAP AS OF JANUARY 21. IT'S ROUGHLY THE SAME AS IT HAS BEEN. MAYBE HERE OR THERE, SOME SLIGHT MOVEMENTS.
HERE'S THE U. S. SPECIAL ENVOY, STEVE WITKOFF, WHO IS HEADED TO MOSCOW.
>> DO YOU THINK WE'RE CLOSE TO THE FINAL 10% OF THIS DEAL? DO YOU THINK THIS WILL GET DONE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS? >> THE FINAL 10%, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT FEW WEEKS BUT I KNOW WE'VE MADE MORE PROGRESS IN THE LAST SIX OR SEVEN WEEKS SINCE GENEVA, THAN WE'VE MADE, ACCORDING TO THE UKRAINIANS NOW, I'M GOING TO USE WHAT THEY SAY, ACCORDING TO THE UKRAINIANS MORE PROGRESS THAN IN THE LAST THREE OR FOUR YEARS.
>> Bret: WITKOFF AND PUTIN MEETING TODAY WITH ZELENSKYY. IS THERE ENOUGH PRESSURE ON THE LEADER? DO THE UKRAINIANS SEE MOVEMENT ON THAT SIDE WHEN IT COMES TO THE PRESSURE THAT PREVIOUSLY PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY SAID WAS NEEDED?
>> I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT UKRAINE IS DOING A SHOWCASE ON HOW PRESSURE COULD BE PUT ON RUSSIA AND ALSO PRESIDENT TRUMP BY IMPOSING SANCTIONS BUT ALSO ENFORCING THROUGH TARGETING THE SHADOW FLEET GIVES A CLEAR SIGNAL THAT THERE IS NO WAY BACK IN TERMS OF ENDING THE WAR. I THINK THE PROCESS OF THE LEVEL OF THE NEGOTIATING TEAM WAS VITAL BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE WAS A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION, AND IT WAS AGREED ON BOTH SIDES BY PRESIDENT TRUMP, BY PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, OVER THE MEETING. THE ACTIVATION WILL START NOW.
UKRAINE HAS SHOWN THAT WE'LL ABLE TO DEFEND OURSELVES EFFECTIVELY BUT ALSO THE PRICE FOR RUSSIA STAYING ON THE FRONT LINE IS INCREASING DRAMATICALLY. 35,000 DEAD, RUSSIAN SOLDIERS, IS THE PRICE, OF A SMALL INCH OF VICTORY. CLAIMED BY PRESIDENT PUTIN OVER THE PHONE CALL WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP.
I THINK IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT COULD BE COMPREHENDED, BUT MORE PRESSURE WILL SPEED UP THE PROCESS. >> Bret: UKRAINE IS READY TO MAKE MAJOR CONCESSIONS? >> AGAIN, THERE HAS BEEN A 20-POINT PEACE PLAN AND WE'RE SPEAKING ABOUT THE JUST PROCESS AND SECURITY GUARANTEES.
IT'S NOT LIKE ONE POINT TO BE AGREED. THERE ARE A COMPLEX OF STEPS AND I'M SURE WHILE WE'RE SPEAKING ABOUT UKRAINE ENTERING A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, A COUNTRY GUARANTEEING EUROPEAN SECURITY AND THE FRONT LINE OF FREEDOM IN EUROPE, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE FIGHTING FOR, AND I'M SURE THAT THE FINAL ANSWER TO THIS, TO ANY QUESTION, WILL BE GIVEN BY THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE. >> Bret: OKAY.
