As the war in Ukraine nears the one-year mark, the mayor of Kyiv is highlighting what鈥檚 at stake, hoping to remind people the threat of nuclear war looms, and his country is fighting to defend not just itself, but every country that shares its democratic values.
Vitali Klitschko 鈥� in an exclusive Canadian interview airing Sunday with CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos 鈥� stressed that it is important for people to remember the war in Ukraine impacts everyone, not just Ukrainians, adding that it would be a 鈥渉uge mistake鈥� for people outside of Ukraine to think the war doesn鈥檛 affect them.
鈥淧lease don't forget, we're talking about nuclear weapons,鈥� he said. 鈥淎n explosion could touch everyone on our planet, and that is why we have to do everything we can to stop this war.鈥�
Feb. 24 marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, which at the time Russian President Vladirmir Putin called a "special military operation." Since then, there have been 7,199 civilian deaths and more than eight million refugees scattered across Europe, according to the United Nations.
While Ukraine prepares for a likely spring offensive from Russia 鈥� and after starting to receive the long-time ask of battle tanks from allied countries 鈥� President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is asking for fighter jets.
Meanwhile, Canada鈥檚 Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly paid a surprise visit to Ukraine earlier this month to meet with Zelenskyy, Klitschko, and other top officials.
Zelenskyy briefed Joly about Ukraine鈥檚 latest most pressing defence needs, and discussed next steps in his Peace Formula, according to a release from the president鈥檚 office.
Joly later attended an international security conference in Munich, where Zelenskyy urged Western allies to send military support to Ukraine quickly, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 speed that life depends on.鈥�
Klitschko told Kapelos the fighter jets Ukraine is now asking for would be 鈥渧ery effective鈥� against the missiles Russia is using.
鈥淲e need the help,鈥� he said, adding the amount of support Ukraine receives will determine how quickly it can end the war.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about defensive weapons [so] we [can] defend our homeland,鈥� he also said. 鈥淯kraine always was peaceful country, we鈥檙e peaceful people, but we don鈥檛 have right now a choice, we have to fight and defend our families.鈥�
When asked however about the concern of some governments that sending more help to Ukraine 鈥� for example in the form of fighter jets 鈥� could spur a Russian escalation, Klitschko said his country is fighting to defend its democracy and that of other former Soviet Union countries.
鈥淲e defend right now not just Ukraine,鈥� he said.
With files from CTV鈥檚 Question Period Senior Producer Stephanie Ha
