Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, talked to VOA diplomatic correspondent Natalie Liu on the sidelines of an event at the Ukraine House on June 28 in Washington in celebration of Ukraine Constitution Day. Below is a transcript of their exchange, edited for clarity. The Ukraine House, a center designed to showcase Ukrainian culture and enhance ties with America and Americans, was opened on September 1, 2021, by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his official visit to the United States, six months before Russia invaded Ukraine.
The European Union’s ambassador to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis presented Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., a copy of the European Council’s agreement to accept Ukraine as a candidate for member state with all EU ambassadors in the U.S.’s signatures on it at an event on June 28, 2022 held at the Ukraine House in Washington marking Ukrainian Constitution Day. (Natalie Liu/VOA)
VOA: We saw (the Ukrainian city of) Mariupol past, present (in this photo exhibition). Where do you see Mariupol in the future?
Markarova: Mariupol will be Ukrainian, Mariupol will be liberated, and Mariupol will be rebuilt. Of course, we will never be able to return the lives the Russians killed in Mariupol, but we will properly bury them, we will mourn them, and we will rebuild the city.
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Markarova: What America is doing now. We're very grateful for the support Ukraine is getting. We just need America and all our other partners to continue to help us with security assistance, with weapons, with sanctions against Russia, with assistance to us. We need to win, all of us together.
VOA: Do you see, do you sense, that weapons delivery has picked up pace or not yet?
Markarova: We're working very closely with our partners, and before this phase of the war, over the past eight years, the United States had always been a strategic friend and ally. We're fighting against a very large and brutal enemy, so of course we need more. But we're grateful to the U.S. for not only appropriating money, not only for supporting us — everyone, from the president to Congress to people at the Pentagon — but also doing everything possible — sometimes impossible — in order to help us.
VOA: Your defense minister indicated that there may be counteroffensives in the summer. Are they coming?
Markarova: We know what happens to people in the territories that fall under Russian control. They've been killed, tortured, raped, so we need to liberate our territories as soon as possible. As soon as we can do it, as soon as we have sufficient number of weapons to do it, of course we will do it. We're defending our homes.
VOA: Do you think Russian President Vladimir Putin is a rational actor in that when he senses defeat, he will sit down and negotiate with Ukraine?
Markarova: I'm not a psychologist to answer this question. I just know that the situation is very black and white. The Russian Federation — Putin and every Russian that supports this war — crossed the border in 2014 and attacked a sovereign nation. They illegally attacked Crimea, they illegally attacked Donetsk and Luhansk, and they've committed war crimes since 2014. Over the past 125 days, they have waged a full-fledged war in Ukraine, everywhere, and we need to stop them, and they need to get out of our country.
VOA: Some people say that time is on Russia's side because they have more manpower and bigger artillery, and that if Ukraine does not win the war in a short time, Russia could gain more and more territory and control. How do you see this question?
Markarova: The truth, God and justice — is on our side. We're the ones that have been attacked by Russia, so we hope it will take not a lot of time to defend ourselves. But regardless of how much time it will take, we will not stop, we will not surrender and we will win. Because this is our home, this is our people, and we've lost so much [because of] Russia during the past centuries, we will not do it this time.
VOA: Have you learned anything about your country, your people, about President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy that you didn't know before?
Markarova: I always knew that my country is great, that my people are very resilient, and that in times like this, we will always come together, and we'll always be united. And I'm very proud and honored to represent my country here.