Mayor of Kiev: the world must help us now

Mayor Vitali Klitschko of the Ukrainian capital Kiev is calling on the international community to support his country. “We are prepared for the worst in Ukraine, the world must help us now,” Klitschko told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

According to the mayor, Russian President Vladimir Putin strives for world power “and the West should know that after Ukraine it will be the turn of the Baltic states. We are just the beginning.” When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other heads of state talk to Putin, they need to make one thing clear: “Our whole country will defend itself against an attack and that will have serious consequences,” Klitschko said.

Scholz wants to meet Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky in Kiev on Monday. He will travel to Moscow on Tuesday to meet Putin.

Klitschko, ex-world boxing champion, said on a talk show in early February: “When the military aggression starts, I’ll grab an assault rifle and fight for Ukraine.”