Tucker Carlson Show: w/ Iuliia Mendel, Zelensky’s Former Press Secretary (Transcript)

And his neighbor wrote that he died from hunger and cold. There were severe temperatures in Ukraine, and he didn’t have anyone to help him. I just wonder if we will ever know the statistics of how many people died from the cold and from having no opportunities to—

TUCKER CARLSON: Wait, so you’re saying that Ukraine right now has maybe 15 million, maybe fewer working people — people actually working — in the entire country?

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, you don’t count children. Children are not working, right? So I don’t know how many children under 18 are there, but perhaps if we have around 10 million working people, that would be fine.

TUCKER CARLSON: Wow, that’s amazing.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes.

TUCKER CARLSON: How many have died in the war, do you know?

IULIIA MENDEL: The numbers are very different and it’s very difficult to count. Right now, the official UN-verified statistics is around 15,000 civilians. The numbers of those who turned into military are not known, so it’s very hard to know. But only in Mariupol, it is known that there are graves for around 20,000 Ukrainians. So I guess there are at least hundreds of thousands of those who died, and we will just never know the numbers. I’m sorry, it’s so painful to talk about.

The Hidden Death Toll and Corruption

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, it’s absolutely awful. But I’m wondering why my government, which has funded a lot of this war, and why we can’t get a straight answer from the U.S. government, from the Ukrainian government, the Russian government. I mean, no one seems to have an interest in finding out the real number of dead.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes, well, it’s very difficult to do because how do you do this in occupation, right? There is no any relation with that side that would allow learning this information. And the other side, which is the Russian side, obviously is interested in hiding the numbers.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: I don’t believe in verified numbers. And obviously, many people who are military now, they used to be just ordinary civilians, right? Engineers, IT guys, journalists working their everyday life, and then they turned into military. So of course they are soldiers, but they are also people. And they are dying.

And there are a lot of things I’ve heard from the frontlines — when a person was killed and the body is brought and he has a bullet in his head, and the government officials, local officials, just don’t want to put him as dead from the front line, so they say he died from a heart attack, for instance. It’s war, and I think it was happening in every war. I think we will never know the true number, but there are so many people who are suffering there.

And I told you this terrible story about retired people and that they live on such absolutely outrageously low pensions. When I talk about Zelensky, I’m an insider. I talked to so many people who used to work for him, or even those who work for him now. And to be clear, I believe that he stands behind many schemes of money laundering.

One of the stories is that I have a friend who was shortlisted for the position of the Ministry of Social Policies during the large-scale invasion. He was called, and he said that he was one of 5 candidates, and he would be interviewed by Zelensky and Mr. Yermak, then Chief of Staff of President Zelensky. He was told that during the interview he would need to come up with schemes of money laundering so that they are financed from the Ministry of Social Policy. And the Ministry of Social Policy is the ministry that is responsible for pensions.

So when we’re talking about those poor pensioners, and knowing the fact that Zelensky himself approves the schemes of money laundering — is he guilty? I want your audience to respond to that. Do you understand the desperation of mine?

Why Western Media Ignores Zelensky’s Corruption

TUCKER CARLSON: I think most people watching assume that Ukraine is corrupt and has been for a long time, and that the Zelensky regime is especially corrupt. I think Americans believe that, but there’s almost no evidence that has come out in the American press. The American media has not written very much about his corruption. Why do you think that is?

IULIIA MENDEL: You know, I saw good pieces about corruption, but you’re right that there are not too many of them. It’s very hard, first of all, to prove it. But I think there was also some kind of agreement — not an official one, an unofficial agreement — that we all need to support Zelensky because this means supporting Ukraine. We’re all united to support Ukraine.

But Zelensky abused this unity. He abused our belief in democracy. He abused our fight. He abused our sacrifice, Ukrainian sacrifice, and what the Europeans and Americans were doing for us. He abused the trust of so many people.

I believe that millions who still support Zelensky were looking for some great guy in politics. They wanted to believe that there is someone — Churchill or whatever — a guy who would really do something good for the people. And Zelensky is an amazing actor. He’s going to give you what you want.

TUCKER CARLSON: Exactly.

IULIIA MENDEL: And that’s what’s happening. He still plays on camera this great guy. But believe me, behind the camera, he’s very different. I was working for him for 2 years. For 2 years, this guy was repeating 2 phrases which are very telling about him. One of them, he was saying, “Ukraine is not ready for democracy,” and this is a quote. Another quote was, “Dictatorship is an order.” So how on earth can a person who believes that Ukraine is not ready for democracy and that dictatorship is an order actually be the face of democracy?

Zelensky’s Stance on Russia Before the War

TUCKER CARLSON: Someone who’s canceled elections, who’s not actually elected president — I couldn’t agree more. So what, in 2019, 2020, 2021, what was Zelensky saying about Russia?

IULIIA MENDEL: Zelensky came to the presidency as the president of peace. During his electoral—

TUCKER CARLSON: We’ve seen this before.

Zelensky’s Past in Russia and Crimea

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh yeah. He’s the guy who made himself in Russia. The first biggest money he made was in Russia. Millions of dollars. He was working for Russian propaganda channels and he was fine with that. Furthermore, he was— of course, he made all his career, tens of years. He was everywhere in Moscow.

By the way, when the first Russian invasion in Donbas happened and Russia annexed Crimea, he was spending time in Russia. He was finishing his movie for which he got a lot of money, and he even recognized this in August 2019, I think. He wrote, “Yes, I was in Russia, I was finishing the movie, it was 2014, the war was going on.”

Furthermore, I’m writing a book right now, and it’s a different book, it’s a book about real Zelensky. And I learned a lot of facts and talked to a lot of people, and this information was nowhere. But it happened that he had several properties in Crimea, and when the war was happening in Donbas already, he was spending time in Crimea, having marijuana with his friends from 95th Quartal and making facilities there and enjoying time. And he didn’t care that Russia annexed Crimea while it was Russian-controlled. Yes, it was under Russian control. It was—

TUCKER CARLSON: He was vacationing in Russian-controlled Crimea.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes, it was May 2014. I talked to a person who was working for him, a person who was helping him put the windows into the house, and a person was telling different details about how Zelensky was behaving. So everything that Zelensky is saying is really, is really very different truth, you know, very different truth.

The Peace Candidate Who Changed His Tune

TUCKER CARLSON: So he was the peace candidate.

IULIIA MENDEL: He came promising that he would stand on his knees in front of Putin and beg Putin to stop. That’s what he was promising. He was saying that Ukrainian and Russian languages are both languages that need to exist, that people speak both languages, and you know, it makes people stronger, that we need to be friends with Russia. He was saying all this stuff, and that’s why people voted for him. They didn’t want war. Nobody wants war. There is nothing good in war. And now he totally adapted some nationalist ideology that is not natural for Ukrainians, and he really plays it well.

TUCKER CARLSON: And what happened? How did— I mean, most people in the United States were not paying attention.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes.

TUCKER CARLSON: And we sort of look up to the TV and there’s Joe Biden’s vice president Kamala Harris at the Munich Security Conference in January 2022 with Zelensky saying, “You need to join NATO,” and he says, “Great.” That’s not the behavior of someone who wants to avoid war.

Zelensky’s Secret Promise to Putin on NATO

IULIIA MENDEL: You know, one thing is that he has been escalating the rhetoric. Another thing, you know, I was present at his meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2019 in Paris. There were very few people near him who knew the truth. He had a private conversation with Putin where he promised Putin that Ukraine will never join NATO.

TUCKER CARLSON: So he’s right in 2019.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes, it was December 2019, and there was a personal conversation. There were very few people who know what he promised. He said no NATO because Ukraine has never, you know, Ukraine was never close to it, to NATO. For being the part of NATO, first of all, we need to have a market economy and be a reformed country. It’s not like just Trump doesn’t want Ukraine in NATO, Biden doesn’t want Ukraine. It’s not about names. It’s just like, we’re not ready for NATO. There is no consensus to be NATO. It’s imagination. It’s lies.

He stuck to this fact of joining NATO knowing that it’s impossible. He was pushing the impossible agenda and making it a condition for peace. In October 2024, he presented to the parliament a victory plan, and he said that joining NATO is the most important thing, and long-range missiles for Ukraine are the most important thing. And he made this the plan, victory plan, but it’s ridiculous, it’s impossible.

And look how he uses it. He uses impossible things to justify his own agenda and actually creating his hero image. For instance, remember after he left Donald Trump, he said, “It’s not so easy to get rid of me.” He said this to the journalists. “If Ukraine is taken to NATO, I’m ready to step down,” knowing that Ukraine is not going to be taken to NATO. So it’s very easy to promise something under the condition of impossible things.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: Right? That’s what he is doing. So this is one thing. What changed? The second thing, if I can—

TUCKER CARLSON: Oh, of course.

“I Need Goebbels Propaganda”

IULIIA MENDEL: One of the most shocking moments for me personally, as I was on the communications team in 2019, 2020, was that he was really scared that his ratings started dropping down, and he was sure that the communications team was guilty in that.

TUCKER CARLSON: So he thought it was your fault?

IULIIA MENDEL: Not mine, but all communications people. But I was, you know, part of the team. And he gathered us and he started saying that there are no positive news about what he is doing in the country. And my colleague started arguing with the president very diplomatically, but she was saying, “Look, there are not so many positive things that are happening. You’re promising something but it doesn’t happen.” She was of course very diplomatic. She didn’t say it like that, but that was the thought.

And he said, “It doesn’t matter what’s happening. The most important thing— we need 1,000 talking heads, and if 1,000 talking heads tell positive things, then positive things are happening, and people believe that there are positive things.”

And she kept arguing, and she brought a very good example. She said there was a group of internally displaced people from Donbas, families who lost homes, and Zelensky promised them apartments. And we don’t speak about thousands or hundreds, there were like 10 apartments or something like this. And nobody took care about that. So he promised, the families were waiting, nobody took care about that. So she said, “If there are no those apartments, people will know that there are no apartments. It doesn’t matter how many talking heads will say that there are apartments, right?”

And he said, “No, if talking heads, a thousand people, tell you that this is happening, then this is happening.”

So she continued to argue and he became very irritated. And he put his hands like this, what he was doing. He leaned to the table, he looked at us, and he said in a very irritated tone, “I need Goebbels propaganda if you want. I need Goebbels propaganda. I need thousands of talking heads of Goebbels propaganda.” Meaning Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist. Yes, that was Major Hitler’s propagandist. And we were like so shocked, we stopped breathing.

But okay, the thing is that I believe what happened in 2022, he’s got his thousands of talking heads globally, right? And many of us were not supposed to be his heads. We just, you know, we were standing for the country. We believed that he would stop the war soon, that, you know, we needed to be united. We believed in that. And 4 years later, Ukrainians don’t believe in Zelensky’s agenda anymore. But still, there are thousands of talking heads, and many of them just get paid for that, you know.

TUCKER CARLSON: Who do they get paid by?

Funding the Narrative and Zelensky’s Falling Ratings

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh, different stuff. For instance, if they are asked to the conferences for moderation or for writing a positive message— it’s called a positive message about Ukraine— some oligarchs can pay, or, you know, it goes from grants or something like this. In Ukraine, obviously, the experts get paid from the structures that are close to the government, those the biggest patriots, or, you know, grants from the European Union, for instance.

And, you know, I’m not saying that these people are bad. No, they are not. In many ways, they just are not aware of what’s happening. They’re calling, they’re talking to each other or to some experts or to the government. They still believe in the legend that Zelensky has some rating.

And by the way, just a week ago I was talking to an insider from the Office of the President, and again, I was working for the Office of the President, I know there are different ratings— ratings that are closed just for the eyes of the president and a few in the team, and ratings that are presented to the public, right? And the insider from politics who saw the rating said that Zelensky is non-electable, his ratings are so low. I was looking at those ratings in 2023 and 2024 every month, and his ratings were very, very low, getting lower and lower and lower.

And here is another big revelation for you. When Donald Trump went out and named Zelensky a dictator, and when he was talking about the low ratings of Zelensky, of course Zelensky said that Donald Trump is influenced by Russians and this is all Russian propaganda, and Donald Trump was called pro-Russian, as every critic of Zelensky. But in fact, Donald Trump got information from a lot of Ukrainians. These are former government officials and even current government officials. These are people who are close to President Zelensky. They provided evidence, documents, witnesses, what they knew, everything. Because when Donald Trump came to power for the second term, so many Ukrainians hoped— I can still hope— that he will help achieve peace.

Zelensky’s Relationship with Biden

TUCKER CARLSON: I hope so too. What was Zelensky’s relationship like with Joe Biden?

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh. So there is a very good American journalist who wrote a book, and he mentioned that relationship. But I also met him, and he told me in a private conversation that Biden was thinking that Zelensky was emotionally manipulative. When I was there, he also described in the book that Zelensky thought that Biden was weak.

When I was there, Zelensky had several interviews to push Biden for some agenda. And I remember that I met one American diplomat. He was pissed off with this interview. He was shouting at me so, so much. And it was a party, and I was not the organizer. Mr. Yermak was an organizer. And the diplomat knew— he was just so pissed off that he couldn’t stop shouting. And he shouted that that interview was kind of either stupid or unprofessional, and it shouldn’t be like that.

When I was leaving and I resigned, there are bots who are spreading the rumor that I was fired because I worked for Russia. This is not true. We departed on good terms. Zelensky thanked me. He wished me good luck. They wanted me to continue as an advisor to the office. So we departed on good terms.

The thing is that Zelensky actually was destroying relations with multiple actors in the West, including with the United States. And one of the things was that since 2020 till 2021, for a year, there was a reform agenda, and Zelensky literally was destroying every reform. And it was happening like one by one, and that was disastrous.

TUCKER CARLSON: And what kind of reforms?

Zelensky’s Broken Promises to the IMF

IULIIA MENDEL: What kind of reforms? So there was an agreement with the IMF in 2020. Ukraine was, as often, on the verge of default, and we needed money. And obviously IMF doesn’t provide you money for free. So there were like 10 or 12 positions of the reforms that needed to be done.

And as soon as— so Zelensky really did a miraculous job with two of the most difficult reforms. The parliament to vote for it, for them, which actually means that he could go through this agenda, difficult agenda, and push for the reforms. He just didn’t want to. As soon as two reforms were pushed through, the IMF approved $5.5 billion.

And I remember I was present at the conversation between Zelensky and Kristalina Georgieva. They spoke in Russian because Kristalina Georgieva is Bulgarian, and they had such trust and understanding, you know. But as soon as the money came through, and the first tranche was $2.1 billion, more than they wanted to give at the beginning, in few days Zelensky violated the first reform.

He fired by political reasons the head of the National Bank, and it was a big scandal. Kristalina Georgieva called back, and she never spoke in Russian to Zelensky anymore because she was undermined. She promised to the board that he was a reliable man, that he agreed for reforms, that he proved that he could push reforms through. And then suddenly, as soon as he gets first money, he fires the head of the National Bank. And the head of the National Bank said that he was fired via political pressure.

And, you know, there was a scandal. Zelensky explained her this. He said, “There will be another independent head of the National Bank, but he will just be our— he will be just our head of National Bank. He will be professional and independent, but he will be coming from us.” He even doesn’t understand what he’s saying, right? It’s hilarious. Do you understand me?

TUCKER CARLSON: I do, I do.

IULIIA MENDEL: Okay, so then after that, there was a justice reform. There was a scandal in the courts. Then there was another, another, another, like every reform.

And the last one that was really blowing up, it was corporate reform. Actually, the reform that was needed to be destroyed to make corruption. So the United States helped Ukraine to establish the corporate reform as in the United States. There is the board of independent people who looks how actually the state enterprises are working. Looking so that there is no corruption there.

There is a big Ukrainian oil and gas company, Naftogaz, in Ukraine, and Zelensky just dismissed the independent board and put his own people there. And yeah, this is something that hasn’t been public, but we were talking to anti-corruption activists, and there was money laundering at some point from Naftogaz. So Zelensky just wanted to turn this state oil and gas company into Russian Gazprom. So when there is your own person there and there are dark offices and the money is laundered from there.

And that’s when the United States was so pissed off that they did not prolong the sanctions against Nord Stream. I’m going really deep here. I don’t know if your audience is going to understand everything, but Nord Stream was a pipeline that Russia was building to bring its own gas to the European Union, and it was sanctioned by the United States. And so when Ukraine— when President Zelensky was actually violating all the reforms that he had agreed with the United States, at some point Biden’s administration was so pissed off that they decided to allow Russia to finish this Nord Stream pipeline. Doesn’t make sense.

TUCKER CARLSON: It does. And then they blew it up in the end anyway.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Is Zelensky Corrupt?

TUCKER CARLSON: Is Zelensky himself corrupt?

IULIIA MENDEL: So there was one minister— I don’t name the people, okay— but he had good connections with the United States, and that’s why Zelensky appreciated him. And there was this absolutely ridiculous story that, you know, Ukrainian ministers get very low salaries like $12,000 per year. Yeah, yeah, that’s why there is corruption there, right?

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: And he said, “Look, I don’t need much, but I will need like $5,000 per month, so $60,000 per year.”

TUCKER CARLSON: Yep.

IULIIA MENDEL: Really didn’t want much, but that would guarantee that he did not make corruption. Zelensky, of course, promised him in his first interview and obviously did not do anything for that. So the minister just started writing himself premium bonuses. And opposition was attacking him like, “Oh my God, $5,000 per month for the minister,” that was such a scandal, you know. Zelensky obviously didn’t like that.

So when the first government was dismissed, this guy was invited, and Zelensky said, “Look, I like how you work, you have good relations with the West, maybe you want to continue in the other government, but you cannot have $5,000 of official salary because it causes so much scandal.”

And when the guy entered the room, there was President Zelensky here, Mr. Yermak here, and another person whom I know here. And there was a bag of dollars on their table. And the guy said, “I can’t give you 5,000 of official salary, but I will be giving you 5,000 of, you know, dark money every month. So you can get your salary, but it’s not going to be official, okay?” Which means if Zelensky knows it, it’s not corruption. Of course, you see.

TUCKER CARLSON: Does he take— do you think Zelensky and his family have gotten rich since the war began?

IULIIA MENDEL: They have always been rich. He’s playing this poor guy in his cheap sweater. He is rich, obviously. Look, I don’t know where the money goes, but I was meeting one veteran of politics who has known Zelensky for dozens of years. And the first thing he asks me, “Where is the money?” What? He’s like, “I know Zelensky for many years. He has never lifted a finger for free. He would never do anything for free.” So, you know, I’m not law enforcement. It’s something for the law enforcement to prove.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: But I’ve just told you already two stories, right? There was another story from another minister who just called us recently and he said, when he was on the position, those very close people to Zelensky were actually taking percentage from some governmental programs. I mean, illegal percentage.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: And he told Zelensky that they are taking really too much already. Like, really, they’re insisting on very big amounts. And Zelensky smiled and said, “Good job, guys. Good job, guys.” And he was not joking. The minister says he was not joking. He was really happy it was happening. And then the minister thought, “Oh, we are not going far with this.” Yeah, he resigned later.

Now in the government, there are very few people who are professionals. They are there, but very few. Mostly Zelensky puts their loyalists who will never say no and who create the agenda that absolutely is out of mind. He just wants something. Like if he is writing his scripts, you know, of the Servant of the People, and then he just wants— he demands this, and people go and they just make up some reports, and he goes with these reports and says that this is true. This is how it works, unfortunately. He’s a PR guy, and PR only PR. He’s not the guy of substance.

Yermak: Zelensky’s Chief of Staff

TUCKER CARLSON: Who does he listen to? Who are his advisors? Yermak, you said, was the chief of staff for years. I don’t know that he still is, but he’s identified in the West as Zelensky’s closest friend and advisor. Is that true? And who is Yermak?

IULIIA MENDEL: Mr. Yermak started his career at the strip club. I’m sorry. Yeah, like not stripper, but as a lawyer.

TUCKER CARLSON: At a strip club?

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes, a lot. That was a strip club where there were a lot of those people who later would become politicians in the pro-Russian party, and he was a lawyer there. And I was talking to a first employee of Yermak, and first employee said, “He had so many ambitions and he had absolutely no talents for those ambitions.” That’s just, you know, a quote.

Yeah, so he started like that, and he met there a lot of people who would later join into politics at the strip club. Yeah, it was very famous strip club. It was the ’90s, I think, or early 2000s. Then he was working for a store of luxury brands that mostly are brought not officially, via smuggling. And that’s where he also met a lot of rich people, oligarchs. And 95th Quartal is also buying clothes there.

So officially, Mr. Yermak says that he was a lawyer at one of the biggest Ukrainian channels, and that’s where he met Zelensky, who used to be a general producer of that channel. But I’m not sure where they met, so it’s possible that they just met through some other entertaining stories.

Yermak also made some movies about smuggling, which is very symbolic for me since he used to work in that business. He was involved in some dark affairs of mafia stuff on the level of Kyiv city. That’s how he knew a lot of politicians. From the point of view of not politics, but how the things can be done, he could be helpful to Zelensky.

Their relations was very strange, very different, very difficult, very strange. Yermak knows that he is personally narcissist, and he knows that Zelensky is narcissist, and these are two malignant paranoid narcissists. Oh my God, what I’m saying, but that’s true.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yermak and Zelensky are both malign narcissists.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yermak and Zelensky are both malign and very paranoid narcissists who are both on defensive mode, and they’re both paranoid. Yermak more.

TUCKER CARLSON: How paranoid?

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh, Yermak, he just creates the stuff from nowhere. He’s just like, you don’t need to do anything while he can come up with something. I don’t know, it’s really some kind of a sick mind, to be frank.

And it was some kind of a symbiosis, and Zelensky had the vision and Yermak had the tools to implement the vision. It was not about politics or policies. It was more about what they wanted for themselves. It’s important to say that sometimes Zelensky didn’t know how to make what he wanted, how to make it work.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

IULIIA MENDEL: So he was just saying the desires, and Yermak was finding the way. And often it was happening that Zelensky then says to do this, but Yermak calls and says, “Don’t do this,” because he or doing this in this way. And in general, that was so chaotic, like no professional could work there. I’m saying that it’s not possible because they just keep saying different things, keep changing the strategies, keep changing the moods, keep changing everything all the time. And they create this feeling that there is so much work and everybody works, works, but nothing is done.

TUCKER CARLSON: Sounds awful.

IULIIA MENDEL: It’s really strange, but I’m not the one who knows that.

Zelensky’s Ambitions and Grip on Power

TUCKER CARLSON: What do you think Zelensky wanted? Like, what were his goals?

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, I definitely know that he thought he came forever. His first chief of staff said it once. He laughed to the minister and said, “We came forever.”

TUCKER CARLSON: That’s— so he liked being the dictator.

Zelensky’s Authoritarianism and the War’s Senselessness

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, he is a dictator. The borders are closed now for 4 years. It’s illegal. The human rights violations are enormous. The persecution of the people.

In 2024, when Donald Trump came to power, there was a member of parliament who wrote on Telegram, “Zelensky, now you need to stop this war. And yes, you will lose the next elections, but stop this war. Trump will push you, stop this war.” And he was in jail in 3 days. He’s still in jail.

I talked to security services and they said he never talked to Russia since 2021. No connection. But he is accused of treason. And there are a lot of people who are persecuted. Obviously, there are dirty campaigns. Everyone who criticizes Zelensky is just a pro-Russian, Russian, pro-Kremlin. You’re pro-Kremlin. I will be pro-Kremlin after this interview.

I believe that American special services do their job well, and if there were any pro-Kremlin payments or contacts, obviously they would know that, right?

So in general, this is it. But for me personally, the situation in the country is inhuman because I never would think that my country would be the one where people are grabbed on the streets and forced to the front lines. I never would think that we all agree and stay silent to the fact that Zelensky uses the front line as the punishment.

TUCKER CARLSON: He uses the war as a punishment, political punishment.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yeah, he even was open about that. He was saying, “If somebody does something bad, we need to punish them and send them to the front line.” That was his statement. But there are people who are sent there just because they’re critics of Zelensky.

TUCKER CARLSON: Do you know anyone who’s been sent for criticizing Zelensky?

IULIIA MENDEL: There were people from the security services who were sent publicly, and there were a few people who were sent there.

TUCKER CARLSON: What’s it like, the front line?

IULIIA MENDEL: There are different front lines. Some people find the front line, in a cozy place, just wearing the uniform and playing the role of some bloggers. But I know people who survived when their units were killed. It’s terrifying.

My mother was treating soldiers who were sent in bad uniforms during winter to another side, and their fingers and limbs were cut off because they were frozen. Every year Ukrainians are collecting money for their uniforms, necessary stuff. Women are cooking food for the soldiers. No, I’m not kidding. There are a lot of volunteers.

TUCKER CARLSON: But the West has sent hundreds of billions of dollars and they don’t have gloves? Or food? Where’d all the food—

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, they have, some of them have food. Some of them are looking for more, and yeah, usually people are collecting even money for weapons or for Starlink.

TUCKER CARLSON: What about all the hundreds of billions from the—

Corruption and Missing Aid Money

IULIIA MENDEL: Yeah, you need to track it. You need to track it. But look, there is a scandal right now in Ukraine when the Minister of Energy was fired and it is now known that he helped money laundering $112 million. And those money should have been used for the shield for the energy sector. And it’s a huge scandal in Ukraine.

There is proven stuff by the law enforcement, and behind the whole scheme is the guy who worked with Russian mafia. You should go and look into it. But there is the whole scheme with offshore companies with the names behind. And the Minister of Energy himself got $12 million for this. So it’s around 10%, and 10% is usually paid for those who help establish the scheme, right? So where is the 90%? That is the question.

TUCKER CARLSON: I’m just— I know I’ve said this before, but I’m amazed that more people from Zelensky’s government haven’t come forward to say this in the West, in English. Why is that? Why?

IULIIA MENDEL: Because people are afraid.

TUCKER CARLSON: What are they afraid of?

Fear, Repression, and Suspicious Deaths

IULIIA MENDEL: On Netflix, there is a movie, a series, How to Become a Tyrant. I didn’t know about that unless one governmental official came to me and said, “I watched that series, it’s what’s happening in the country.” And it was before the war. I mean the large-scale war.

Everyone is afraid. Zelensky has no limits. That’s the problem. I’m sitting here because I know that he is in a weak point today, and I know that there are a lot of people in his government and in his vertical of power who want peace. And I didn’t want to put shit on him. I’m sitting here because I want peace too. And this guy is going to come up with any condition. He’s going to change the positions all the time just to prolong this war and to get more money. He doesn’t want to have political suicide. Finishing the war for him is a political suicide. You see?

TUCKER CARLSON: I do.

IULIIA MENDEL: So I’m sitting here having this belief that if he is furiously ordering the people to arrange something against me, maybe in this vertical of power there would be people who will not agree now, but even 2 years ago, they would do whatever he wanted.

TUCKER CARLSON: What do you think he would do to you for saying this if he could?

IULIIA MENDEL: Look, I’m risking everything. I cannot return to Ukraine after this interview, okay? I know people who get threats. A month ago, there was a banker in Milan who fell out of the window.

TUCKER CARLSON: In Milan?

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes.

TUCKER CARLSON: Milan, Italy?

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes. And Italy is investigating it. But there was one guy, a story that nobody paid attention to. Who died when Zelensky was traveling to Mr. Biden in September 2023. The guy used to be a governor of my region, Kherson region, where I’m originally from.

If you think about the governors, they are usually very rich, local, very successful, strong people who have their people everywhere, have established processes, have a lot of money. It’s very strange that he died behind garages by making suicide of poisoning himself.

And I talked to one very deep insider in top position in security service, and the guy told me this is a very strange death because this guy was negotiating with Russians. He was getting his orders from Yermak. I know the middleman. And then he was passing some information to Russians when Russians were occupying Kherson, and then back. And then when Zelensky travels to Biden, this guy makes suicide behind garages, and the security service explains that he had depression.

TUCKER CARLSON: He had depression.

IULIIA MENDEL: He had depression. A rich guy, strong guy, used to be a governor. He had depression and he decided to poison himself behind garages. I mean, this all just doesn’t come together.

TUCKER CARLSON: No, it doesn’t. So people who work for Zelensky believe that if they were to criticize him, they could be killed?

IULIIA MENDEL: Or jailed.

TUCKER CARLSON: Or jailed.

IULIIA MENDEL: I told you just about the member of parliament, but there are also those people who sit there for years, and the courts cannot— the general prosecution cannot prove the guilt that they’re accused in. It’s also treason, collaboration with Russia.

TUCKER CARLSON: How do you prove that?

IULIIA MENDEL: It’s for criticism. It’s just political fight, nothing more.

TUCKER CARLSON: What are jails like in Ukraine?

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh, they’re awful. Oh, they are awful. A lot of people in one place. Now, by the way, there was the news that diseases are being spread. It’s very cold. The food is terrible. It’s a terrible place to be. It’s not like in American jail. No, it’s a terrible place to be.

Why Western Media Has Stayed Silent

TUCKER CARLSON: So Ukrainians can’t speak up for fear of being imprisoned or killed, but why do you think Western media hasn’t spoken up?

IULIIA MENDEL: Here I would like to say the thing that the freedom of speech in Ukraine is in bad shape, but I believe that it improved when Donald Trump came to power for the second term. Because there are more and more news coming up. And despite that some journalists are also sent to the front lines or attacked, still, there are materials that are coming up.

And when this freezing winter was happening, terrible winter, when people were freezing in their homes without light, without water, the whole is a revolution on Instagram. Ukrainian Instagram started, and I wanted to tell you two trends, just two of multiple trends that are happening on Instagram right now that will show you that Ukrainians are suffering under Zelensky. They don’t support what Zelensky is doing.

One of the trends is they are burning the books with Zelensky’s speeches in their fireplaces or fires, saying, “Ah, finally we figured out why we needed those.” The second thing is very politically incorrect, and I’m very sorry.

TUCKER CARLSON: You’re in a safe place, don’t worry.

IULIIA MENDEL: Okay, I’m very sorry, but I try to describe the desperacy and the dark humor that Ukrainians use. A driver is parking on the parking lot for a place for a disabled person. And another person is coming with a telephone asking, “Why did you park on the place for a disabled person?” And the driver responds, “I’m going to vote for Zelensky for the second time.”

TUCKER CARLSON: You mean mentally disabled? Yes.

Ukrainians Have Lost Faith in the War

IULIIA MENDEL: So these are trends. This is not like one reel, two reels. These are trends and they’re going viral. And this is the way how people are trying to shout out, “We are desperate, please stop this war, please stop this nonsense, please stop this autocracy.”

There is no reason why to fight this war, it’s senseless. People lost all sense of this war. Like, if this war is for NATO or against NATO expansion, then Ukraine has no chances to be in NATO. If Putin conducts this war against Zelensky, then Zelensky is the main beneficiary of this war.

TUCKER CARLSON: It’s true.

IULIIA MENDEL: If this war is for returning territories, then we have been losing territories for 3 years. If this war is for democracy, then we have no democracy in the country now. People in the frontline regions tell terrible things. One person told me, “I don’t know what we are fighting for. What’s the difference between Ukraine and Russia right now? There is autocracy there and autocracy here. There is no anything that would be democratic now. So what’s the fight for?” This is not what I’m saying. This is what people from different regions are saying.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes.

The Missed Opportunities for Peace in 2022

IULIIA MENDEL: And I believe that Zelensky had two chances of finishing this war in 2022. Two chances. Now he says that 90% of Ukrainians will not forgive him giving up Donbas. Where does he come from with these numbers? There are no such numbers. Realistically, no such numbers. And I was talking to people who represented Ukraine at negotiations in Istanbul in 2022.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yes, the famous negotiations where they came pretty close.

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh, they were almost done, yeah. And I was explained in details that they agreed for everything. And furthermore, which is very important, they said that Zelensky personally agreed to give away Donbas. And I was shocked at that moment. It was shocking news. And I said, “Really, did he?” And the guys told, “Of course he did. He is okay with that because he will stop the horror of war.” He agreed for giving away the territory because that would mean the war is over. And now he is standing in front of millions of audiences telling, “I cannot give away Donbas.” He is inconsistent. He is changing the positions all the time.

The second time when he could, and the Office of the President planned he would finish the war, was the end of 2022. And as I read in the New York Times, who actually confirmed my insights, the Biden administration decided to go with his plan to continue that war— that was Mr. Blinken who was advising, “If Ukraine wants to fight, then Ukraine needs to fight,” despite all the evidence that we could not win that.

TUCKER CARLSON: Of course not.

IULIIA MENDEL: There is this thing also— everything that is said against Zelensky is being called pro-Russian. And now, this Mr. Johnson, Prime Minister Johnson thing—

TUCKER CARLSON: Boris Johnson.

IULIIA MENDEL: Yes, Boris Johnson is a big friend of Zelensky.

TUCKER CARLSON: He’s an evil man.

Zelensky’s Approach to Peace Negotiations

IULIIA MENDEL: Remember Bucha? Bucha is a small town in Kyiv region, and it was occupied by Russia, and there are a lot of terrible things and terrible deaths happened there. And Zelensky came to Bucha after it was deoccupied on April 4th, 2022. And I remember him standing in front of the journalists, and he had this terrible face and terrible, terrible look. He was— it felt like he went through pain while seeing all those bodies there.

But he was asked if he was going to continue the negotiations with Russia, and he said, “Yes, yes, I am going to continue.” That’s fixed on a camera. He was going to continue. And then they had all the agreement by positions about Donbas, about language, about many, many things. They agreed upon everything, and then Boris Johnson came.

And now it is sad that this is Putin’s lies, but this story was told by Ukrainians. It was not told by Russians. Ukrainians who were trying to bring peace knew that Boris Johnson influenced the decision, and Zelensky was promised to have everything— weapons, influence, fame. And he will to fight Russia, and he will be a great hero. And that’s everything that Zelensky wants. He doesn’t care about people. He cares about staying in power. He cares about being the great hero in the history.

So I believe there were two moments where he could finish this war, but he chose the war of attrition. I don’t know how 25 million Ukrainians who stay in the country can have war with attrition with Russia that has the population of 140 million people, with Russia who, by the way, in 4 years has not even borrowed for this war, and Ukraine has the debt of 100% of GDP, with Russia that awaits sanctions, still tries to sell— and Ukraine has no market economy.

TUCKER CARLSON: I mean, Russia is so much bigger than Ukraine that Ukraine could never win. It’s just too big. Russia’s too big.

IULIIA MENDEL: The New York Times wrote a story that was scandalous in 2023, and the title was “Ukraine Will Need to Choose Between People and Territories.” And we are indeed choosing, and our leader is choosing.

TUCKER CARLSON: But it’s not— I mean, look, I’m not an expert at all on Eastern Europe, but I have Wikipedia. I just looked up land mass, population, industrial capacity. You don’t need that much information to know this country cannot beat that country in a land war. It was obvious. I don’t understand.

IULIIA MENDEL: I think it’s obvious for Zelensky too, but he thrives on this war. He thrives on this war. Why would he finish it?

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, because it’s destroying his country.

IULIIA MENDEL: I don’t think he thinks about that. In 2024, I was talking to a very smart guy who knows Russia and knows Ukraine very well. He used to be an advisor to the president. He’s an American, by the way. And he said to me that Zelensky would finish the war till the end of 2024. I said, no, he won’t. He said, why? He’s losing territories. Russians will go to Dnipropetrovsk and other regions.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yeah.

IULIIA MENDEL: Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv. He names all those regions of Ukraine. And I’m like, this is not the reason for him to stop. And the guy could not understand. He’s like, “But why? You’re going to lose the territories, you’re going to lose more.” And I’m saying, this is not how he thinks. He imagines the lives like— his thinking is limited with thinking of what he sees, of his beautiful golden office.

And the guy was like, “Okay, they’re in Zaporizhzhia.” I’m like, “Not a reason.” “They’re in—” “Not a reason. They’re there, they’re there.” And then the guy says, “Okay, there needs to be somewhere a point where he will understand that Russians are winning. Maybe when Russians are with the guns in his office.” I’m like, “Yeah, that’s where he will understand.”

So it sounds like he doesn’t care very much about Ukraine. He never cared. He never cared about the people. That’s the point.

Zelensky’s Contradictory Peace Signals

I tried to come up not only with the insights. I think the things that I told you are quite terrible, but this is who he is. But let’s just check the facts online, okay?

At the Munich conference, Zelensky insisted that ceasefire is the condition for peace, for negotiations, and for elections. He is keeping pushing for ceasefire again, knowing that Russia is against ceasefire. It’s like the NATO story, right? If you go online and check his speech for the UN General Assembly, September 2024, he was saying that no ceasefire is possible, that it’s very irresponsible to ask Ukraine for a ceasefire, that a ceasefire will lead to a frozen conflict. And he was going against ceasefire all the time.

Then, in June 2024 there was a peace summit where Ukraine presented Zelensky’s peace formula. There were 160 delegations coming from different countries, and I truly believe that those delegations wanted to discuss peace. There were discussions about energy security, returning children, and something somewhere else. And Switzerland suggested that they invite Russian delegation, maybe even Vladimir Putin. And the Office of the President was very much against it. And the Office of the President of Ukraine even organized a media campaign saying that it is absolutely morally impossible to talk to Russia, to Putin. We need just to pressure, no negotiations with Russia.

You see, at the same time when he was presenting the formula of peace, Ukraine was organizing the Kursk region operation. And how do you actually offer the world to have peace and at the same time are planning an operation to invade Kursk region? These are very inconsistent things.

Then after his just formula where he suggested one thing, he offered a “victory plan” where he suggested completely different things. Then in November 2024, he said that he would agree for temporary occupation of some territories if another government-controlled territory of Ukraine will be included in NATO. Then in several days he said that he was misinterpreted. I’m telling you so many examples when he has been changing the conditions, preconditions to end this war.

TUCKER CARLSON: Because he doesn’t want to end the war.

IULIIA MENDEL: Because he doesn’t want to end this war. I counted with my insights around 7 attempts to finish this war, where he used different mediators, he used different countries. He promised those mediators, he promised those countries, those leaders, that he would start negotiations, that he would agree for conditions, and he always lied.

Why Western Countries Keep the War Going

TUCKER CARLSON: But I’m not giving him a pass. I’m not making excuses for Zelensky, but Ukraine has got 100% debt-to-GDP ratio, limited industrial capacity. It can’t fight a war without Western aid, period. And so it’s France, UK, United States that are paying for all this. Why would the Western countries want to keep the war going? Obviously they do.

IULIIA MENDEL: This is a very good question. To be frank, I think that the approach that Donald Trump’s team offered is a very constructive approach. In any way, Ukraine wouldn’t survive without aid. But one thing is to plan the investment, right, to boost businesses, to provide jobs, to pay taxes, to recover economy and to have returnings. And another one is just to provide the money for the war.

And I believe that the governments gave so much money, and some of those governments, they just cannot back up now. They cannot say that we gave those money for a dictator because they’re afraid about their ratings and their own situation right now. Some of the Europeans were saying, Ukrainians, members of parliament, that Ukraine was undermining them because of corruption. Ukrainians are begging, “Please just open your eyes, help us stop this war. It’s not about your ratings, it’s about people paying with blood.”

TUCKER CARLSON: Of course, but it sounds like that’s not going to be possible as long as Zelensky is there. The war won’t end.

IULIIA MENDEL: I don’t believe that he will finish this war. I don’t know.

TUCKER CARLSON: It sounds like it. If there are 7 attempts to finish the war and his only position has been the war needs to continue, he’s clearly not the guy to end the war. So how do you get Zelensky out?

IULIIA MENDEL: That’s a good question, and I’m not the one to answer it.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, there are no elections, so—

Zelensky’s Political Maneuvering and Behavior

IULIIA MENDEL: We are in a legal trap here. And the last time when he was planning elections, he actually didn’t want to leave the martial law and wanted to have one-round election so that he can manufacture them. And this is the article on a very reliable Ukrainian media outlet. The journalist talked to insiders from the office and from the parliament.

Just another example— look, there was this Munich Security Conference and Zelensky assaulted the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Orbán. That’s so interesting. I’m saying so many bad things, I feel so bad about that. But if you’re a rational person, think about this. The leader of Ukraine standing in front of all the leaders and keeps assaulting one of the European leaders. In a week, this European leader will need to vote for a $90 billion loan for Ukraine, and obviously Orbán just blocked everything. And everybody is pointing fingers to Orbán, how bad Orbán is, how bad Orbán is. Perhaps he is. I’m not justifying Orbán here. But if you are a leader of a country, how on earth are you assaulting a person from whom you will need a support of $90 billion of a loan without which Ukraine just cannot go further? So that’s a great question.

TUCKER CARLSON: And I watch him do the same thing to Donald Trump.

IULIIA MENDEL: Absolutely. But can I finish this moment? The thing is that the conflict that has escalated recently is about a pipeline, an oil pipeline. Hungary was getting Russian oil through Ukraine, and it’s damaged. And Zelensky made this again performance, huge performance, as if he is a brave hero who is fighting against Russian oil, Russian gas, all Russian, etc., etc.

At the same time, Ukraine on a technical level is repairing the pipeline. The European Commission is insisting that we do it as fast as possible. And Ukraine is sending the explanation to the European Commission, “It will take some time, but we are offering you another pipeline so that there is no energy crisis.” So the work is there. And Zelensky is just performing some stuff in his head.

And the other important moment in this— do you know that it was France, not Hungary, who bought the biggest number of Russian energy products last year, including Russian LNG that it’s selling to Germany. So why doesn’t Zelensky go against Macron? I don’t understand that.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, it’s a great question. I’m aware of this.

The Oval Office Incident and Zelensky’s Behavior

IULIIA MENDEL: And Donald Trump— I was watching that thing, that Oval Office situation. For me it was so painful. It is so painful every time when I’m posting on my Twitter videos of ruined Ukrainian cities, every time I have this quote from Zelensky: “We’ve got beautiful cities, come and see.” I’m like, how can you say that these ruins are beautiful cities?

The thing is that many people who know Zelensky, they characterize the situation that this is what’s happening behind the camera— usually such hysterical behavior, no control of emotions, and this manipulation, attempts to prove himself. This is Zelensky. This is how he looks all the time.

TUCKER CARLSON: Is he a drug user?

Allegations of Drug Use

IULIIA MENDEL: This is an open secret. The thing is that I’ve never seen him taking drugs. However, for writing my book, I met a lot of people who confirmed that they saw him taking drugs in different clubs. Only one saw him taking drugs in 2021. I learned who is the supplier from 95th Quartile. And I met that person.

TUCKER CARLSON: And you met Zelensky’s drug dealer?

IULIIA MENDEL: I’m not saying he’s a drug dealer. He’s a guy from 95th Quartile. And what’s 95th Quartile? It’s the entertaining company of Zelensky, 95th Quartile where he comes from. It’s the guy who is an actor, and he behaved really in a strange way. His eyes and his behavior. Is it—

TUCKER CARLSON: Is Zelensky using cocaine?

IULIIA MENDEL: Again, I have not seen that. The thing is that all these people are talking about cocaine. Yes. The second thing is, every time when we were preparing for the interview, I was bringing the notes explaining who is the journalist, what he needs to say, the message in the questions. He does not like reading, to be frank. Usually he’s more, you know, tries to listen to you. And then he takes his 15 minutes in the bathroom.

And I’m telling you that I was always surprised that he was going out a different person. Like really always a different person. So you’d be briefing him, then he goes to the bathroom, he spends there 15 minutes, and he’s going out energized. Full of action, ready to say everything. Sniffing. So I don’t want to say something that I didn’t see, but I met too many people. I met doctors, I met people who spent time with him in the clubs, and I talked to the people who has been knowing him for like 20, 25 years.

TUCKER CARLSON: And they say he’s a cocaine—

Zelensky’s Drug Use Allegations and Personal Behavior

IULIIA MENDEL: And also, I don’t know if you followed that, but there was an allegation, accusation that he’s a cocaine user during his electoral campaign. And that’s why he invited his opponent, President Poroshenko, at that moment, to take analysis on drugs. And he went to the clinics of his friends. And when the analysis was presented, it happened that the analysis was dated by different date when he gave those analysis. That was a big scandal. I mean, this is everywhere. The allegation is everywhere. There are many people for a long time, for a long time. Yeah. And you know, there is this very strange behavior, obviously, you know, there are a lot of things that point out to it, but I personally have seen that.

TUCKER CARLSON: But you spoke to his cocaine supplier from 95th Quartile? Not for the book.

IULIIA MENDEL: I met him in the office of the president. I didn’t know about cocaine back then, but I was very surprised of his behavior. His eyes were sparkling and he was so happy and slow, and he was trying to make some jokes that I didn’t stand. I was like, this is a strange guy. And I didn’t know what he was doing there, because he didn’t have any position. He just came to the office of the president.

Zelensky’s Wife and Personal Dynamics

TUCKER CARLSON: What’s Zelenskyy’s wife like?

IULIIA MENDEL: You know, many people who know her respect her. Many people were saying that she was the only human who stayed nearby him. She really didn’t want him to go for the second term. She even said this publicly. But I believe she changed. And I don’t know if she still has that positive influence on him that she used to have, but Zelensky never thought that women are equally important. He is the one who respects his woman but not as she— if she is like really equal, if it makes sense.

TUCKER CARLSON: It does.

IULIIA MENDEL: Once I was in this very weird situation. I was in many weird situations with Zelensky. It’s just a norm. But there was this situation where there was his friend from 95th Quartal and Zelensky. We were 3 of us. I don’t know for which reason this guy started telling a very funny to his mind situation that Olena Zelenska was running after Zelensky for 8 years to make him marry her. And he was a strong guy, he didn’t want to marry. Hahaha, it was so funny. Well, definitely Zelensky was smiling a lot and he liked the story. I still don’t understand what was funny about that.

I think Zelensky is a smart person, but she does not care and doesn’t know anything about politics, and she doesn’t want to be involved. She tried to stay human. I’m not sure what worked out.

Leaving Ukraine

TUCKER CARLSON: When did you leave the country, Ukraine?

IULIIA MENDEL: I would prefer not to talk about that.

TUCKER CARLSON: Okay.

IULIIA MENDEL: I stayed in the country in 2022. We were shelled, by the way. When Russians were leaving Bucha, we were shelled. It’s just pure luck that it didn’t hit the house we were. My husband went to the front lines. We stayed in 2023, majority of 2024, beginning of 2025, and I had so multiple sources that were saying that Zelensky is not going to finish this war.

People are going crazy there. I was going crazy. You’re like in the closed cage. You’re being shelled and bombed. You can die any moment from Russian drone or Russian missile. At the same time, you can’t do anything. There are no economic opportunities. There is no freedom of speech. Anything you do can be, you know, treated in a different way.

The country is full of bans. Everything is banned. There are strange rules. Like, there is this very strange rule that all the cars need to stop at 9 AM on the roads, to listen to the hymn. If you drive and then there is 9 AM and there is Ukrainian hymn, you need to stop, right? There are really strange agenda, and it looks like surreal. The country— I don’t recognize Ukraine anymore.

The Culture of Bans and Cancellations

TUCKER CARLSON: Everything is banned. What does that mean?

IULIIA MENDEL: Like, he uses bans. There is this culture that he developed, the culture of banning, canceling people, artists, poets, churches, writers, like anything he can connect to Russia somehow. Sometimes it doesn’t have any connection to Russia. It always makes us weaker. Sometimes these are Ukrainians from the past, but yeah, they used to live under like Russian Empire or the USSR. There is this whole culture of cancellation.

He cancels bloggers, journalists, not personally, but he has this tendency, he has orders. Like, for instance, in late 2023, I learned from the Security Service that Zelensky collected his guys and told them that they needed to go against critical bloggers. At the beginning of 2024, there were like purges of bloggers. Bloggers were called to the Security Service, having conversations why they did that, why they said that, that they will be accused of being pro-Russian.

There was a bunch of bloggers that went against the war, and they said, “We don’t need the borders of 1991. We want to stop this war.” And all of them were called for a security service. One guy needed to leave the country. He was threatened. You know, every story can become a bigger story, can become a story with security service, you see, can become a story of treason. By the way, the cases of treason rise multiple times in 4 years. Multiple times. Treason is just another punishment, you see.

TUCKER CARLSON: He sounds like a Bolshevik.

IULIIA MENDEL: In many ways, it feels like it’s the USSR that we read about. In many ways, it is.

Can Zelensky Be Removed?

TUCKER CARLSON: So just to restate the question, is there any way to get rid of Zelensky?

IULIIA MENDEL: That’s a good thing. You know, the problem is how to do this in a legal way. And who is going to be next? Who’s going to fight with Zelensky on electoral field? And how to restore the electoral field in general, you see? Yes. And there are so many questions there that are not being solved at all, and I’m not sure he wants to solve them.

So one big question to all the Ukrainians and Westerners who have resources, who have the power, who are strong enough, is actually how to make it in the legal field, how to finish this. Yes. And that’s the answer to your question, why are Ukrainians silent? Rich people are afraid of being sanctioned. By the way, it’s also a legal instrument that Zelensky uses. He sanctions his own citizens, and it’s absolutely anti-constitutional. How can you sanction your own citizens? Yes, he uses, he sanctions his own citizens. That’s pretty public and on his website. For, I don’t know, he comes up with the reasons, working for Russia or whatever.

TUCKER CARLSON: What happens when you’re sanctioned?

IULIIA MENDEL: Your businesses can be closed. Accounts frozen. The former president is sanctioned, so he says he cannot use his money anymore.

Zelensky’s Shift on NATO

TUCKER CARLSON: So just to go back to something you said earlier that I should have followed up on— when you were working for Zelensky, he told Putin, I think you said it was 2019, that Ukraine would not join NATO. Then you fast forward a couple of years, 3 years, and he’s telling the world that Ukraine does plan to join NATO, which you said is impossible. But what do you think changed his mind? What changed?

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, I definitely know that he wanted to influence the American administration. He really did want to influence the American administration. In what way? Yeah, I mean, he wanted something. He wanted to get some support, friendship, you know, to get something.

I remember the interview. I remember whom that interview was given when he first said, “Why are we not in NATO?” So it was a TV interview and I was preparing messages. It has never been in messages. We never discussed that. Actually, it was not at the table at all. He was sitting there, and the journalist asked him, “So what would you tell or ask Biden about?” He said, “Why are not we in NATO?” I started looking at the messages, and there is no this NATO thing. He just came up with that.

Zelensky is the kind of person, if you applaud, he’s going to continue. There were a lot of nationalists who applauded, who thought, “Oh, that’s great. Great stuff, God, do it!” And so he saw the applause, he saw the reaction, and since his ratings were dropping down, you know, and there was positive feedback, he just started pushing through this agenda.

You know, again, I read the book about Biden, and there was the description of the meeting in 2021. That was after I left, a few months. And it happened that Zelensky insisted on this NATO issue from Biden, thinking that that was only Biden who was the obstacle to this. And if Biden said yes, then they will be in NATO. He didn’t want to listen to any arguments, any facts, nothing.

And then when Biden said, “Look, there is no consensus for this,” the guy said, “But NATO is outdated organization and it’s going to fall apart. Germany and France are going to leave NATO now.” And as the journalist explains, even those who really liked Zelensky, they were blown up by this. They thought he went too far. But this is, you know, this is who is Zelensky. He’s always escalating, he’s always demanding, he’s always proving himself.

You know, I was talking to one guy who used to work under 2 or 3 presidents, and he said me that he’s telling everyone that these two guys, Zelensky and Yermak, they are just 6-year-olds. He meant because they were 6 years in power, now they are 7-year-olds. And I myself was thinking that they behave more as teenagers, but we never had argument that they behave as adults, you see.

So I believe that Zelensky— if that journalist who wasn’t inside the White House says that Zelensky thought Biden was weak. I believe Zelensky thought Biden is weak and he can pressure and get the NATO thing, because Zelensky actually doesn’t have much understanding of how things are working in his own government and globally.

American Presence in Ukraine

TUCKER CARLSON: Why are there so many Americans always in Ukraine? Always Americans in Ukraine. American officials are always talking about Ukraine. No offense to Ukraine, but it’s a very small country. It’s a very big world. But the US government was very focused on Ukraine for a long time. There were always journalists in and out of there, think tank people in there, US military. What was that?

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, I think we are lucky that there are journalists there. But it’s a small country, you say, but it’s comparatively big.

TUCKER CARLSON: It’s a large landmass for sure, but so is Kazakhstan.

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh yeah. But in Europe, it’s like the second biggest country in Europe.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, if you don’t count Russia, it’s the biggest. Yes, second. And so I’ve never understood.

IULIIA MENDEL: You should ask Americans why they’re there.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, I’ve never understood it. I mean, I think money laundering was part of it for sure. I think Americans, I mean, the former president’s son was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. I never— did you know that?

The Hunter Biden Story

IULIIA MENDEL: You know that I was a co-author of that very famous article about Hunter Biden, and after Biden’s administration didn’t give interview to the New York Times, and I think that was a very infant behavior from the communications people. I was just a freelancer in Ukraine. If for 6 years after that the biggest Democratic president doesn’t provide interview to the biggest Democratic media because of some freelancer, you know, having evidence of some connected topics, that’s really ridiculous.

TUCKER CARLSON: I remember that piece with— I was with Ken Vogel, I think. And Yulia Mandel. Yep, who’s you? So for whatever it’s worth, for those who don’t remember the piece, can you just summarize it? Tell us what it was about, what it said.

IULIIA MENDEL: It was long ago, but yeah, Hunter Biden was invited to be on board of energy company that was owned by a big oligarch, who is accused in money laundering. Big, big guy really. Mafia guy. And there was a general prosecutor who opened 11 criminal proceedings against this company, and Hunter Biden figured somewhere that he was— he was somewhere there.

But I was talking to general prosecutor, and he told me that he reopened the cases, but he could not prosecute Hunter Biden because Hunter Biden is an American. And as Ukraine, we just cannot do that. But that was the whole story about, you know, that Hunter Biden was on the board. And obviously, it was not liked by Biden administration very much. And there was a huge scandal.

And I did just my job, you know. I talked to the general prosecutor. I went to different people. I asked the questions. I read and translated law, you know, I verified the information. I mean, Ken was doing a major job. I was helping him, and The New York Times stands for that piece. So why should I be, you know, feeling bad about that?

TUCKER CARLSON: I don’t think you should be at all. Yeah. What was the reaction from the Zelensky government to you when that piece came out?

Ukraine’s Destruction and the Failure of Leadership

IULIIA MENDEL: Oh, first of all, that was the transition moment.

TUCKER CARLSON: Yeah, I bet. I’m sure it was.

IULIIA MENDEL: So he never actually reacted much. It served more like a concern for him. He didn’t understand much what was happening. He just asked what was the buzz about. His people asked me. I said, well, there was this piece, you know, I checked it, The New York Times stands for that, that’s it. So they had just the concern what was happening, but it was 2019. Before Biden came to power, right?

To be frank, yeah, I know that for Americans it’s a big story about corruption. For me as a Ukrainian, I still cannot understand what would have happened that Biden administration would allow Zelensky to continue this war. I agree, it’s just like, it’s very hard to talk because you don’t understand what’s happening really.

When people are being hunted by drones, when people wake up to death and destruction, when are they being abandoned, when they are being searched by law enforcement of their own country, when they don’t have heat or light or water, when they have no almost money and they have no help and they’re not heard and they cannot leave the country. It’s such a trap. And this has been happening for 4 years of a large scale, and for many for 12 years.

And the only solution that is being presented today is just to say that Putin is a monster. Well, maybe he is. His army is doing terrible things. But here is the point. Keeping just offending Putin, we reach nothing. And my point is we need to do something as the country, we need to do something to start taking the decisions, we need to start putting people first.

And what I see from Zelensky is just, “Yes, I’m taking care about the people, yes, people are first,” and then always there is “but.” And after this “but,” there is the whole bunch of misleading information. I don’t believe that President Zelensky is really very constructive, let’s say so. I believe he has some kind of mental challenges.

And so when I’m thinking about his meeting with Biden, who, as has been proved by Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper, had really already mental problems. I’m thinking, where did this world come to that there is one person leader with mental challenges and another person with mental challenges actually deciding on the fate of the 40 million nation or 37 million nation?

A Nation on the Brink of Extinction

IULIIA MENDEL: You see, I just don’t believe that Ukraine is just being destroyed. I believe that Ukraine is in the word of extinction. We have huge brain drain, enormous problems with the demography. Do you know that that was the Ukrainian who actually made the program to send the first person to space, Yuri Gagarin? Now children in Kharkiv region in the 4th grade cannot read. You see, my nation is being deteriorating.

So there is no “but” in this case. People either go first, or they go first and then “but, but, but, but, but,” a lot of conditions why not to stop this war.

And you ask me why all those think tankers and journalists come to Ukraine. I think they come to every country, and they were interested in the relations with Russia. But unfortunately, there is this, I think, absolutely destructive contribution to very unhealthy nationalism that has become a shield for the beneficiary group in the country. Of course, of course, that’s—

TUCKER CARLSON: Of course that happens every time. I just know a lot of the policymakers in the United States who promoted this war, and I think that some of them wanted to destroy Ukraine. I think that—

The Cynicism of War Propaganda

IULIIA MENDEL: I’m sorry, it’s very inhuman, the propaganda that we hear. It’s very inhuman, it’s very cynical. I mentioned to you this stuff about Russia is collapsing. This is like already a Twitter joke. Russia is collapsing for the fourth year in a row. Mark Rutte said a few weeks ago that Russia is in super bad shape, you need like 3-4 months of war more to win. Where does he come from that? Tell this to a Ukrainian who is dying. Tell this to a mother who buried her son or a child, tell this to a father who lost 3 children and wife under shelling. It’s impossible to explain to the people how politicians come up with the conditions to justify this absolutely unjustified war.

TUCKER CARLSON: Because it’s not their country and they don’t care. It’s evil. I couldn’t agree more.

IULIIA MENDEL: Many Ukrainians believe this already. Many Ukrainians.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, again, they’re correct.

IULIIA MENDEL: I’m not justifying Putin here, okay?

TUCKER CARLSON: It’s nothing. I agree.

IULIIA MENDEL: It’s just like repeating that he is a monster. It doesn’t help the situation.

TUCKER CARLSON: No, I agree. It’s like telling us that Iran’s going to get a nuclear weapon in 3 weeks, you know, telling us that for 25 years. At a certain point, I don’t believe you.

So you have asked to end with a message to the Russians, to Vladimir Putin, Russian president, in Russian. And of course, I can’t understand Russian, so — but you’ve done us, I think, us, the United States, a great service by this interview. And so I would be happy to turn it over to you to speak directly in Russian to the Russian president. Thank you. Of course.

IULIIA MENDEL: It’s actually quite a moving moment. Shall I look there?

TUCKER CARLSON: Look there.

A Message to Vladimir Putin

IULIIA MENDEL: Vladimir Vladimirovich, yes, Kherson. I don’t know if he will hear me. You know, I’m actually grateful that I didn’t cry so much. I usually cry so much when I’m talking about the war.

TUCKER CARLSON: Well, I appreciate everything you’ve done. And I hope this is widely seen.

IULIIA MENDEL: Well, thank you very much for giving me the platform and for allowing to have this frank conversation. I feel like I took a lot from myself and that my silence could be a contribution to this war, but now I feel like I did something real and good. Thank you.

TUCKER CARLSON: I think you did. Thanks very much.

IULIIA MENDEL: Thank you.

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