"You will have the same as we do": Zelenskyy urged South Korea to be ready for challenges and not to stay away from the war in Ukraine. Video

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on South Korea not to stand aside from Russia's war against Ukraine. According to him, Seoul should enlist the support of its allies and not stand alone against Moscow and Pyongyang.

Zelenskyy made the statement in an interview with South Korean TV channel KBS, which was published on October 31. In particular, he said that he was aware of South Korea's cautious attitude to the war in Ukraine.

"But this is not only our war. It is thanks to Russia. They have involved North Korea, they will not stop, and there will be Iran and others. You cannot wait, in my opinion. You need strong allies who, if Russia supports North Korea, will be with you. You cannot be alone against North Korea with Russia. You will have the same as we do," Zelenskyy warned.

According to the president, when Russia attacked and almost occupied Ukraine, Ukrainians "just went out and fought."

"And it so happened that we won it, but we may not have won it. Unfortunately, this is the result of this tragedy. How many kilometers is Seoul from North Korea's ability to strike? 50-60? About 40? But this is the distance of modern artillery. Not even missiles. And here, air defense will not protect you. Artillery completely destroyed our cities and villages by the dozens. I am not intimidating you in any way. I want there to be no precedent, I want no one in your country to die, but it's better to be prepared for challenges," Zelenskyy advised.

He added that the DPRK started helping Russia "for a reason" – Moscow and Pyongyang have plans.

"I am surprised by China's silence. I will not say that China is on our side, but that it is one of the guarantors of security in your region. At least that's what we thought. And now it is silence," the Ukrainian leader said.

In his opinion, such civilized and strong countries as South Korea and Japan "should turn to China and have China as an ally in terms of what North Korea is doing now, which is dragging your entire region into war."

"They are doing this for a reason. They are doing it to get the same from Russia in return. Also support and assistance," Zelenskyy explained.

He also answered questions about Ukraine's action plan after the US elections. In particular, the head of state categorically rejected the possibility of giving up territories in exchange for peace.

"In any case, Ukraine has no constitutional right to give up its legitimate state territories. And therefore, legally it is simply impossible. No matter what Putin comes up with, he took our occupied territories and appropriated them at the level of changes to his constitution, and they are already in his constitution. He made illegal changes. Despite this, Ukraine does not recognize these territories, no matter who wants to. No matter who wins in the United States and no matter how long Putin remains the leader of the Russian Federation, this is impossible," Zelenskyy emphasized.

According to him, the new US president can "either strengthen support for Ukraine or weaken it."

Weakening support will allow Russia to "occupy" Ukraine more and will not allow Kyiv to win this war.

"That is why we are not talking about compromises of territory, but about the fact that there may be certain diplomatic ways, but they depend on US policy. If it does not weaken, the desire of the United States to end the war quickly in the case of Trump – the fact that he declared that he is a man of action and that he wants to end the war quickly and find some kind of model, but if Trump wants to force Ukraine to give up everything to reach an agreement with Russia in this way, I do not think that this is possible today," the Ukrainian head of state said.