They discussed this during an interview for the recording of another episode of Friedman’s podcast.
Zelensky mentioned that a million Chechens have been destroyed — “another nation” with a different faith and language, now part of the republic that belongs to Russia.
“How did he (Putin — ed.) kill them? With love? I think, damn, in embraces. […] He choked them in embraces. As the saying goes: ‘I love so much that I even want to kill’”, the president responded to Friedman’s words.
In his view, Putin does not love his people, but rather “his little people” — meaning his close circle. He does not love the citizens, as he stated, “you cannot send your people to die on foreign land, knowing they will die.”
Additionally, Friedman asked Zelensky if Ukrainians would forgive Russians and whether they would travel and be friends again. He replied that Russia would seek forgiveness because “they are guilty — both those who participated [in the war] and those who remained silent.”
According to him, based on historical examples, forgiveness is possible if “one country acknowledges that it was the aggressor and understands that this cannot be forgiven.”