Putin only wants Ukraine’s next president to be anti-West — Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy said this in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.

"Putin doesn’t care who the president of Ukraine is, as long as they have an anti-Western, anti-European, and anti-NATO stance. Someone who sees NATO as the enemy — just as the Kremlin portrays the Alliance to Russians," the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelenskyy is convinced that Russia wants a puppet leader in Kyiv — someone they can control.

"Before the war, they already had influence in our parliament. They controlled one of the largest political parties and did everything they could to keep Ukraine from firmly choosing the European path," he added.

At the same time, Zelenskyy stressed that Russian forces in Ukraine aim to do what they did in Chechnya — completely destroy the country and turn it into a fully controlled, subjugated territory.

"They did the same in Georgia: first, a frozen conflict; then, a government under their thumb. They used the same tactics in Belarus," the president said.

• Meanwhile, the Kremlin continues pushing the narrative that “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is illegitimate.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has called such claims absurd.