Zelenskyy warns Putin will 'escalate the conflict as much as possible' ahead of US midterms
In an interview with Spain's El País, Volodymyr Zelenskyy predicted Vladimir Putin would intensify attacks on Ukraine — especially on Kyiv's civilians — as the US midterm elections approach on 3 November.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Vladimir Putin will “escalate the conflict as much as possible” in the run-up to the US midterm elections, predicting Russia will intensify attacks on Ukraine — particularly its capital — to demonstrate strength.
“Putin’s tactic is to escalate the conflict as much as possible, and he will do so. And as the midterm elections approach, he will do this even more,” Zelenskyy told Spanish daily El País during a visit to a Kyiv school damaged in a Russian attack.
Zelenskyy said Russia is deliberately striking civilian targets to force residents to abandon the capital, a goal he said Moscow has pursued “right from the very beginning” of the full-scale invasion. “They want Ukrainians, and especially residents of the capital, to leave the city,” he said, adding that the Kremlin wants to paralyse Kyiv by preventing people from going to work and children from attending schools and kindergartens.
He accused Russia of seeking to plunge Ukraine into chaos by attacking logistics, food supplies, hospitals, agriculture and educational institutions, and said he had warned the US negotiating team about large-scale attacks on civilians — including after the elections.
“The world can trust the Kremlin’s messages and the fact that Putin will intensify his actions as the elections approach in order to demonstrate his strength,” he said. Russia “is not afraid of Europeans, is not suffering from sanctions, and, of course, is directing its messages primarily at the United States.”
The US midterm elections — for the House and a third of the Senate — take place on 3 November.
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