In a BBC interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the explosive allegation that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already started World War III.

“I believe that Putin has already started it,” Zelensky said. “The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him. Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves.”

He said that Ukraine is only the first step for Russia. “Putin will not stop at Ukraine,” he declared, which is why “stopping Putin today and preventing him from occupying Ukraine is a victory for the whole world.”

When asked about land concessions for peace, Zelensky said it’s not a concession; it’s an abandonment of the people living there to Russia’s tender mercies. He also said that such concessions would not satisfy Russia in the long term. Eventually, after recovering from the war, the imperialist government would attempt to seize more land.

“I don’t look at it simply as land,” Zelensky explained. “I see it as abandonment — weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there.”

After recovering from the war, Zelensky said he can’t predict Putin’s next move, but “that he would want to continue [fighting] is a fact.”

After last week’s peace negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, Zelensky expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome.

“Sensitive political matters, possible compromises, and the necessary meeting of leaders have not yet been sufficiently addressed,” he said at the time.

More talks are expected to be held at the end of this week, according to Zelensky’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov.