Prime Minister Janez Janša guest of the Nova24TV show Theme of the Day
- Former Prime Minister Janez Janša (2020 - 2022)
![Prime Minister and host of show in the studio](/assets/vlada/Fotografije/PV/03-2022/1703/Nova24-2-v2__FitWzk4MCw5ODAsImFmNzljMWE0NzIiXQ.jpg)
Prime Minister Janez Janša guest of the Nova24TV show Theme of the Day | Author Kabinet predsednika vlade
"The journey to Kyiv is much safer than are journalists reporting from the battlefields, where in Ukraine people are being killed almost every day. Although this route was not without danger, the security aspect of the visit has been exaggerated in the media," said the Prime Minister. He added that it is a fact that almost a million inhabitants had left Kyiv during the Russian aggression in Ukraine. "Kyiv has more inhabitants than the whole of Slovenia, and Kyiv cannot be taken with these troops that Russia has," noted the Prime Minister.
When asked about the information that the three prime ministers did not have an official mandate for the visit, the Prime Minister said that he did not know what mandate they would need. "We went there as Heads of Government in the framework of an initiative that was discussed at the European Council and which will have a continuation. We are not the only delegation that went to Kyiv after the beginning of the aggression, but we were the first," commented the Prime Minister, adding that, according to his information, the Turkish Foreign Minister as well as the President of the International Red Cross were in Kyiv on the day of the TV broadcast. "For Ukraine, this is even more important than it was for us 30 years ago. At that time, no one came to us. They were in a worse position. They were abandoned. Ukraine is a sovereign, internationally recognised state which had had one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons, but renounced it because of the international guarantee that no one would attack them. Now they have been attacked, and before this, processions of diplomatic missions, representations of international institutions and multinationals moved from Kyiv. The US have also called on the president and the government to withdraw because they did not believe that Ukraine would defend itself, but it will defend itself and Russia will not win this war. The question is what will be the number of victims, what will be the price and how strong a peace agreement can be reached," said Prime Minister Janez Janša. He also noted that what needs to be dealt with now should have been done 30 years ago after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the security architecture of Europe should have been completed and redesigned. Russia should have been included at that time, but it was considered a colony. "What we see in Russia is partly similar to the reaction that occurred in Germany after World War I. For the situation that has arisen no exclusive fault lies merely with one side. However, for the aggression on a sovereign state, for the killing of civilians and suffering of millions of people, Russia bears sole responsibility," said Prime Minister Janša.
"I believe that we have achieved that the Ukrainians have seen in some way that they are not abandoned and that we are all supporting them at a distance. Only the Polish and Vatican embassies remained. There is a curfew and many civilians have left Kyiv, but Kyiv is far from being defeated or occupied," noted the Prime Minister. "When we got to the Ukrainian train, the employees of the train system, conductors, customs officers and border guards frankly said "Thank you", he added. It was noticeable that our visit meant something to them. "When, after the proclamation of an independent state, we fought against the Yugoslav Army, we were alone. No minister, no prime minister, no one visited us, and I remember how grateful we were to the German Foreign Minister, who came to Klagenfurt to at least meet our Foreign Minister," said the Prime Minister, adding that the visit of the three prime ministers had reversed the trend in Ukrainian: before, all were just leaving, but now the EU will send someone as a representative, and also Slovenia should find a brave diplomat to go there. "This is a gesture that is as important as the material aid we give them," the Prime Minister expressed.
"When the Russian Army and its leadership see that they can no longer move forward and that they have made very little progress in recent weeks, then they will be ready to negotiate. And only after they've agreed to a ceasefire will we see when they are ready. As long as there is no ceasefire, as long as the weapons are used, these are not serious negotiations; but only Russia wants the cameras focused on something else, not on Mariupol, where civilians are dying," told the Prime Minister. "Given that a large part of the world now believes that Ukraine will defend itself and is ready to help, I think we are relatively close to the point at which the negotiations will begin," said the Prime Minister.
"If Putin agrees to negotiate in the near future, then he has some way out, but if this aggression lasts for a long time, then he can end up in the same way the Russian tsars did in more distant history. But time is important because people are dying," noted the Prime Minister in connection with what will happen to Putin in the future. "When we were there, we were shown shocking scenes that are happening with regard to the people in Mariupol and some small besieged places. The Russian army has many tanks, a lot of apparent or actual firepower and very low morale. They shoot from afar, they're causing destruction, but to conquer a defended city, one needs infantry and soldiers who are willing to risk everything, even to die. The Ukrainians said that this risk is taken where Russian troops are either Chechens, or some military units from the Far East and mercenaries, but where Russian recruits are located, there is practically no such situation and there are many surrenders and desertions," mentioned the Prime Minister, who concluded that one of the issues currently on the EU table is whether to allow Russian soldiers deserting to be granted asylum, "because if they return to Russia, they will most likely suffer a cruel fate."