>>> President volodymr zelenskyy
wrapped up a news conference at
the g7 conference in Hiroshima
as the Wagner group says it has
captured bakhmut.
>> Zelenskyy denies that the
city is in Russian hands.
He just added that and addressed
it.
Let's take a listen.
>> Translator: We don't have
simple questions anymore as well
as we don't have simple answers
because we have a very
complicated neighbor who is a
criminal and terrorist, a
complicated enemy.
But we are keeping on, we are
fighting thanks to the courage
of our people, our warriors, and
thanks to our cleverness.
We are not throwing people to
die.
For us, the people are treasure.
This is the most important thing
that we have.
And there are no
misunderstandings.
I clearly understand what is
taking place in bakhmut and we
all clearly understand why all
of that is taking place.
I cannot share with you the
technical views of our military,
of ours warriors.
But we can see that the country
which a dozen times is bigger
than we are cannot occupy us,
cannot win in this war and we
understand that a bit more and
then we will be prevailing.
And that is why we are acting
how we are acting, valuing the
lives of the people.
The hardest is if bakhmut had
some military tech mistake,
experience, and people could be
surrounded.
Then all the military know what
could happen.
How we could create the
situation for people not to be
captured.
Now our people are accomplishing
a very important mission.
They are now in bakhmut.
I will not share where exactly,
but bakhmut is not occupied by
Russian Federation as of today.
There are no two or three
interpretations of those words.
>> Sam kiley and Kim dozer are
back with us now.
Sam, let me start with you.
Wagner claimed to have control
of bakhmut before.
Is there any reason -- certainly
in the context of what we just
heard from president zelenskyy
to believe that that's any more
believable now than it was
several months ago?
>> Reporter: Well, I mean, the
leader of the Wagner group,
yevgeny prigozhin, is likely to
be identified as the leader of a
terrorist organization.
He has already identified as a
leader of a transnational
criminal organization.
His people have bludgeoned their
own people to death with
sledgehammers when they have
been returned as prisoners of
war to their care.
So I think the simple answer is
no.
Statements coming from Wagner
leader prigozhin, he likes to
make these dramatic statements
on an almost daily basis, gar
garnering unwanted media
attention and the battle for
bakhmut is going to ebb and
flow.
They may or may not be dominant
in the urbanized area.
They are certainly under
pressure on the flanks.
The Ukrainians are insisting
that they still have people in
the urban area and claiming
short-term victories simply
illustrating a failure to
understand the battle is dynamic
rather than static occasions.
They don't end like a soccer
match.
They continue indefinitely until
there is an absolute result.
The Ukrainians could be in the
process of encircling what
remains of the Wagner group in
the free fire zone now if it is
clear of Ukrainian troops and
they are likely to be sitting in
a trap rather than victorious.
>> Kim dozer, let's talk about
the big picture in regards to
the results of this g7 summit.
There was one picture that I saw
of zelenskyy having that family
photo with all the g7 leaders
flanked by them.
Hugely symbolic to show
solidarity and support behind
Ukraine and of course you heard
about the military aid package,
$375 million that president
Biden just announced.
More consequentially the f-16
jets that will be exported and
the pilots will be trained on
that and of course that will
take some time for the
Ukrainians to see those jets in
use.
What was your biggest takeaway
in terms of measuring success
for zelenskyy regarding the g7?
>> The fact that European
leaders now see this war as
existential for them.
When you go to Europe, talk to
whether it's someone in the
baltic nations or a Brit, they
have a very different perception
of Russia now.
They think Russia is unhinged.
And they feel like if they don't
stop Russian forces in Ukraine,
Russia will attack somewhere
else, possibly a nato nation
next time.
So I think even if Washington's
resolve somewhat ebbs after
this, European resolve will not
and you saw that in that photo.
Also, the push among European
nations to despite the threat of
nuclear war by Russia, give the
Ukrainians F-16s means that they
are sealing this in terms of we
need to help Ukraine win as soon
as possible and we also need to
help Ukraine supplant or prevent
any future Russian invasion that
could threaten Kyiv again.
And sophisticated technology
like those jets does that, even
though it's going to take a
minimum of roughly four to five
months to train the Ukrainian
pilots.
And you also have to build the
whole technical tail on the
ground, the support system, the
contractors, the trained
technicians that know how to