Volodymyr Zelensky Quotes

18 Sourced Quotes

Large empires have always used smaller countries for their own interests. But, in this political chess match, I will not let Ukraine be a pawn.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Now, at a time of Russian aggression against everything that has made Europe peaceful and united, everyone sees how important it is to maintain alliances and partnerships, to strengthen our own security and to take care of the security of neighbors.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Politics is like bad cinema — people overact, take it too far. When I speak with politicians, I see this in their facial expressions, their eyes, the way they squint. I look at things like a producer. I would often watch a scene on the monitor, and the director and I would yell, "Stop, no more, this is unwatchable! No one will believe this."

Volodymyr Zelensky
For a human community to become a nation and a state, the best characters in the country must have hearts that do not live only for themselves. Such hearts speak to those around them. They care. They teach – teach to understand. They unite. Protect. Save when necessary.

Volodymyr Zelensky
In times of war – even more so than in times of peace – we must all remember the significance of culture. And people of culture matter.

Volodymyr Zelensky
It is very important that the world sees: a fair and honest end to Russian aggression will benefit everyone in the world. Everyone! Liberating Ukrainian land from the occupiers means restoring full respect for international law and the UN Charter. Eliminating all threats created by Russia to Ukrainian and global security means returning peace to international relations and stability to global life.

Volodymyr Zelensky
This battle is not only for the territory, for this or another part of Europe. The battle is not only for life, freedom and security of Ukrainians or any other nation which Russia attempts to conquer. This struggle will define in what world our children and grandchildren will live, and then their children and grandchildren. It will define whether it will be a democracy of Ukrainians and for Americans — for all.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Against all odds and doom-and-gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn't fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Establishing the full truth about the crimes of the occupiers on our independent Ukrainian land is a fundamental prerequisite for bringing Russia to full accountability for its aggression and terror. We must do everything for justice, and I am grateful to those of you who are bringing this day closer, this time — the time of justice.

Volodymyr Zelensky
If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn't have started. I'd like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Without you, Ukraine is going to be lonely. We have proven our strengths, we have proven that as a minimum, we are exactly the same as you are. So, do prove that you are with us, do prove that you will not let us go, do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death, and light will win over darkness.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Today the Ukrainian people are defending not only Ukraine, we are fighting for the values of Europe and the world [...] in the name of the future.

Volodymyr Zelensky
The wars of the past have prompted our predecessors to create institutions that should protect us from war, but they unfortunately don't work. We see it, you see it, so we need new ones, new institutions, new alliances and we offer them.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Right now the destiny of our country is being decided. The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy. Russia has attacked not just us, not just our land, not just our cities; it went on a brutal offensive against our values, basic human values. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom, against our right to live freely in our own country choosing our own future.

Volodymyr Zelensky
The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.
On being offered an evacuation from Kyiv during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky
I will personally do everything possible to return Crimea so that it becomes part of Europe together with Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky
They want the President to sit in front of a camera and speak with them directly, like, "Hey, guys, so here's what happened last week."
Telling that that people are less interested in watching press conferences than in hearing the President himself

Volodymyr Zelensky
I started out making fun of politicians, parodying them, and, in so doing, showing what kind of Ukraine I would like to see. And then came this series, in which I could play such a President. OK, so I couldn't actually be the President, but I could play him [...] and at some point I understood there was a chance. These feelings accumulated in me to the point of spilling over—which coincided with things accumulating and spilling over for the Ukrainian people, too.

Volodymyr Zelensky