Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that any peace deal with Russia is dependent on the withdrawal of Russian forces to their pre-invasion positions.
In a video chat at Chatham House, an independent political institute in London, Zelensky said it was the least his country could accept.
“The leader of Ukraine is not mini Ukraine,” he said. However, in his own words, he did not mention Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. Zelensky wants Russia to return the lands taken after February 24, when the invasion began.
At the current stage of the war, Russia is trying to take full control of the city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian forces and some civilians are trying to resist at a steel mill in the southeast of the city, which has suffered heavy Russian attacks.
Capturing Mariupol will be Russia’s greatest achievement in the two-month war, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is told on May 9, Russia’s Victory Day, the day the country remembers its Soviet victory. It would give something to celebrate about the Nazis in World War II.
Speaking from Kiev to Chatham House in London, Zelensky said that it is unacceptable for Russia to hold the lands it has conquered since its invasion of Ukraine in order to have peace.
In response to a question from the BBC, he said, referring to the day before the start of the war, that “the necessary step to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine is to return to the February 23 point”. “I was elected by the Ukrainian people not as the president of a kind of mini-Ukraine, but as the president of Ukraine. This is a very important point.”
The February 23 reference to the situation shows that Ukraine does not currently intend to insist on retaking Crimea. The peninsula was annexed by Russia eight years ago.
Zelensky called for the resumption of diplomatic dialogue between Russia and Ukraine: “Although they have demolished all our bridges, I think, figuratively speaking, not all bridges have been destroyed yet,” he said.
Russia, on the other hand, describes this process as a “state of stagnation”.
Evacuations from Mariupol continue
Yesterday, 50 more civilians, including 11 children, were evacuated from Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, in an operation coordinated by the UN and the Red Cross, according to Russia and Ukraine. More are believed to have remained in Soviet-era tunnels and bunkers below the factory.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the operation was delayed due to clashes and what she called “provocations”. He said evacuations will continue on Saturday.
Russia had previously declared a three-day daytime ceasefire at the factory, starting Thursday.
Image: Reuters
Zelensky said he invited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit Ukraine on May 9. The German leader’s presence in Ukraine on the day Russia commemorates the Soviet victim in WWII is highly symbolic.
“He can take this very strong and wise political step, come here to Kiev on May 9,” Zelensky said. “I’m not explaining the meaning, I think you’re cultured enough to understand why.”
The Ukrainian leader was initially critical of Germany’s stance during the war.
In an interview with the BBC in April, he accused Germany of hindering efforts to embargo Russian energy sales, and said European countries that continue to buy Russian oil “make their money on the blood of others”.
In the same month, the planned visit to Kyiv by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was canceled at the last minute due to Germany’s economic ties with Russia.
Biden increases military aid
Also Friday, US President Joe Biden announced $150 million in new military aid to Ukraine.
A senior US official told reporters that aid included artillery, counter-artillery radars, electronic jamming equipment and spare parts.
But Biden warned that available funds were running out and urged Congress to allow more money to be sent.
The United States also says it is providing intelligence to Ukraine, and U.S. media quoted officials as saying that U.S. intelligence helped Ukraine sink Russia’s main missile cruiser, Moskva.
source: Noticias
