WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE
IT IS AN HONOR TO INTRODUCE MY NEXT GUEST.
HE SERVES AS UKRAINE'S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
PLEASE WELCOME DMYTRO KULEBA! ♪ ♪ ♪
( APPLAUSE )
IT'S KIND OF AN AUSPICIOUS NIGHT FOR YOU TO BE HERE, GIVEN THE
SPEECH THAT PUTIN GAVE THIS MORNING TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE
ABOUT CALLING UP THOSE CONSCRIPTS, ESSENTIALLY.
BEFORE WE GET TO THAT, I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THE MORALE OF THE
YOU STUNNED PROGNOSTICATORS UKRAINIAN PEOPLE. WHEN
YOU HELD THE RUSSIANS OFF FROM KYIV AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
WAR.
AREA IN THE NORTH. AND THEN, THIS LATEST
COUNTEROFFENSIVE, WHERE YOU TOOK BACK THE KHARKIV REGION HAS BEEN
COUNTEROFFENSIVE SINCE WORLD CALLED THE GREATEST WAR
II. AGAIN, IT'S IMPRESSED AND
STUNNED THOSE, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, IN THE WEST.
WHAT HAS THAT MEANT TO THE MORAL OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE?
>> WELL, IT PROVES NOT ONLY TO US BUT TO THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT
WE KNOW HOW TO WIN AND WE WILL.
THANK YOU FOR THIS ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
THIS IS YOUR APPLAUSE. IT'S NOT TO ME BUT TO THE PEOPLE
OF UKRAINE AND OUR BRAVE SOLDIERS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
VERY RIGHT THERE.
>> Stephen: VLADIMIR PUTIN THIS MORNING SAID THAT, AMONG
OTHER THINGS, THAT HE PLANS TO HOLD VOTE, SO HE SAYS, ON
ANNEXATION OF THESE RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED AREAS IN
EASTERN UKRAINE. SPOILER ALERT-- HE'S GOING TO
SAY THE VOTES WERE OVERWHELMINGLY IN FAVOR, NO
MATTER WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO UKRAINE IF
THOSE VOTES ARE HELD, THE RUSSIAN CLAIM THAT THAT IS NOW
PART OF RUSSIA, AND THEN HE'LL BE TIEBL SAY IF YOU GO TO TAKE
BACK THAT PART OF YOUR COUNTRY, YOU ARE ACTUALLY INVADING HIS
COUNTRY. >> IT REALLY DOESN'T MEAN
ANYTHING TO US, WE WILL KEEP FIGHTING.
WHATEVER HE SAYS, WHATEVER HE DOES, HE CAN ARRANGE SHAM
REFERENDUMS, HE CAN CALL IT PART OF THE MOON-- WHATEVER.
THIS IS OUR LAND. THIS IS OUR PEOPLE.
WE WILL RETAKE EVERY SQUARE MEET OF OUR TERRITORY, AND WE WILL
LIBERATE PEOPLE. YOU ASKED ME ABOUT THE MORAL.
YOU KNOW, THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PART FOR ME WAS THE MORAL OF THE
PEOPLE THAT WE LIBERATED IN OUR TERRITORIES.
SOME OF THEM CAME TO OUR SOLDIERS AND SAID, "WE ALMOST
LOST HOPE THAT YOU WOULD BE BACK, AND NOW YOU ARE HERE."
AND THERE WERE THESE SCENES OF JOY AND TEARS.
NOTHING INSPIRES MORE THAN THESE SCENES BECAUSE YOU UNDERSTAND
THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE STILL UNDER OCCUPATION.
OCCUPIERS CONVINCED THEM THAT AND PUTIN AND RUSSIAN THIS IS IT.
RUSSIA IS HERE FOREVER. WE'RE NEVER GOING TO LEAVE.
TAKE US. ACCEPT US.
EPIBRACE US. BUT THEY'RE STILL WAITING.
WAITING FOR LIBERATION. WHEN YOU IMAGINE HOW THESE
PEOPLE FEEL, IT REALLY MAKES YOU WORK MUCH HARDER, BE YOU A
REALLY WANT TO LIBERATE THESE DIPLOMAT OR SOLDIER, YOU PEOPLE AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE, WHATEVER PUTIN THINKS OF IT OR WHATEVER
DECISION HE MAKES. >> Stephen: HE IMPLIED THIS
MORNING, ALMOST DIRECTLY, THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE NOT OFF THE
TABLE, FIRST CITING, SOMEHOW, THAT THE WEST IS ACTUALLY
RATCHETING UP THE NUCLEAR DANGER HERE, AND THAT NUCLEAR WEAPONS
ARE NOT OFF THE TABLE. AND SAID, AS I SAID EARLIER,
"I'M NOT BLUFFING," HE SAYS. DOES PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY BELIEVE
THAT HE'S BLUFFING? >> I THINK WHEN SOMEONE SAYS,
"I'M NOT BLUFFING," AND ALSO THE CASE HE ACTUALLY IS.
BECAUSE IF YOU ARE SO--
IN YOURSELF, YOU KNOW, WHY SHOULD YOU BE REPEATING ALL OF
THIS? BUT THIS DOESN'T MEAN WE
SHOULDN'T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY. AND I CAN SAY TWO THINGS.
READY TO FACE ANY CHALLENGE FIRST, WE AS A NATION ARE THAT WE
HAVE TO IN ORDER TO PREVAIL. BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE
ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM AND FOR OUR RIGHT TO BE OURSELVES.
AND IF WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE MOST DEVASTATING, DIFFICULT
THINGS, WE WILL TAKE UP, WE WILL FACE THIS CHALLENGE WITH
DIGNITY. AND THIS IS HOW OUR PRESIDENT,
PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY, REALLY KIND OF POSITIONED HIMSELF FROM THE
VERY BEGINNING OF THE WAR, FROM THE DAY ONE.
HE SAID, "THIS WAR IS NOT OUR CHOICE.
BUT IF YOU DECIDE TO FIGHT IT WAS IMPOSED ON US. WITH
US, WE WILL STAND UP TO THE CHALLENGE."
AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK THAT WE ARE KIND OF FULL OF
BRAVADO, AND ARE IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE.
BUT WE DO BELIEVE IN OUR NO, WE ARE NOT. CAUSE.
AND WE GUILTY-- IF WE HAVE TO, WE WILL GO THROUGH EVERYTHING.
THIS SAID, I WANT TO SAY ONE THING, ANOTHER THING.
FOR MANY YEARS, FOR DECADES, THE SOVIET UNION WAS THREATENING THE
UNITED STATES AND OTHER FREE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WITH THE
USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. AND THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE
MOMENT WHEN YOU IN THE UNITED STATES OR OTHER PARTS-- OTHER
COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD SAID, "OH, THEY'RE THREATENING US WITH
NUKES. MAYBE WE SHOULD STEP BACK.
MAYBE WE SHOULD MAKE A CONCESSION.
MAYBE WE SHOULD ABANDON CONCEDE TO THEM.
YOU ALWAYS HAD A VERY RIGHT? EFFECTIVE
DETERRENT STRATEGY THAT HELPED YOU TO WIN IN THE COLD WAR.
SO THIS IS WHAT WE CALL ON YOU AND OTHER NATIONS, DO NOT BE
AFRAID. DETER.
BE STRONG. AND WE WILL WIN JOINTLY.
>> Stephen: WE WEREN'T DETERRED, BUT WE WERE AFRAID.
THERE WAS A LOT OF ANXIETY. THERE WAS A LOT OF
DUCK-AND-COVER. >> WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS.
IT'S OKAY TO BE AFRAID. BUT I THINK-- YOU KNOW WHAT I
LEARNED IN THIS WAR? IT'S ABSOLUTELY NORMAL NOT TO
HAVE FEAR, YET TO BE AFRAID. YOU KNOW, YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING.
SECURITY, OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN I AM AFRAID OF MY-- OF THE TO
MY CHILDREN. THEY ARE WITH ME IN UKRAINE.
THEY GO TO SCHOOL. THEY HAVE TO GO TO THE BOMB
SHELTER EVERY TIME THE AIR RIDE SIREN IS ON.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I HAVE NO FEAR TOWARDS THE ENEMY, AS
PARADOXICALLY AS IT SOUNDS. WE SHOULD NOT ALLOW FEAR TO
BUT IT'S ABSOLUTELY NORMAL TO PARALYZE OURSELVES. BE
AFRAID OF CERTAIN THINGS-- OF LOSING SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU OOR,
YOU KNOW, FACING A PROBLEM YOU CANNOT STAND.
BUT NUMBER ONE, WHEN THE ENTERED UKRAINE ON THE 24th OF
FEBRUARY-- I WAS COMING BACK FROM THE UNITED STATES, BY THE
WAY-- I LEFT MY FEAR AT THE BORDER.
AND MILLIONS OF UKRAINIANS, THEY ABANDONED FEAR.
THIS IS THE ONLY-- THIS IS REALLY THE ONLY WAY FOR YOU TO
WIN. YOU HAVE TO REMAIN REASONABLE,
BUT YOU HAVE TO ABANDON FEAR. AND WHEN MY PRESIDENT SAID, "I'M
NOT LEAVING KYIV, I'M STAYING HERE.
I WILL STAY WITH THE NATION, WITH THE SOLDIERS."
THAT WAS THE MOMENT WHEN WE AS A NATION PUT FEAR ASIDE AND SAID,
"WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT."
THE RUSSIAN ARMY BACK TO THEIR OWN BORDERS, AND YOU HAVE DONE
CERTAINLY EIGHT YEARS AGO WAS SO WITH A COUNTRY THAT LARGELY
AGRARIAN, DOESN'T HAVE A LARGE MILITARY, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE, BUT WITH YOUR OWN GRIT YOU HAVE
THAT THE WESTERN POWERS-- TO DONE THIS, AGAINST AN ARMY CALL
TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OVER THE THEM THAT-- HAVE SPENT LAST 70
YEARS TO PREPARE TO FIGHT AGAINST.
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE PEOPLE WHO DID THAT WITHOUT THAT
LEVEL OF PREPARATION FOR 70 YEARS YOU? GUYS PICKED
YOURSELVES UP AFTER 2014, AND THE TAKEOVER OF CRIMEA, AND HAVE
NOW FOUND YOURSELF DEFEATING THE VAUNTED RUSSIAN ARMY?
>> WELL, IT PRETTY MUCH FEELS LIKE BEING UKRAINIAN.
( APPLAUSE )
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DMYTRO KULEBA,
EVERYBODY! WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.