Zelensky said this in an interview with the Italian television station RaiNews24. “It is our dream: to get these guarantees this year and also to end the war this year. We will do everything to achieve this,” he emphasized, adding that Ukraine wants peace more than any other country.
“It’s understandable because we lose more than anyone else. Mainly human lives,” said the Ukrainian president. He pointed out, however, that both Ukraine and Europe must have strong security guarantees that will not allow Moscow to resort to a new invasion.
According to Zelensky, Russia must not get any territorial concessions in the current war. According to him, the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, would “rub his hands” in such a case and say, “Okay, let’s get ready.” We need a year or two and then we will start a new wave’. “He would definitely come back and come to Europe,” warned the Ukrainian president.
He added that Russia must “feel the pain and pay a heavy price.” “Putin wants and has always wanted to completely destroy Ukraine. That’s a fact. We must not believe in fairy tales,” said Zelenskyj.
🇺🇦🕊️ “It is very important for us that peace comes. We want peace more than anyone else. And this is understandable, because we are losing more than anyone else, first of all people,” — Zelensky in an interview with the Italian RaiNews24
“But before we agree on anything, it is… pic.twitter.com/PtvawRQpDS
— The Ukrainian Review (@UkrReview) January 10, 2025
At the same time, he assured that Ukraine does not make any claims to the Kursk region in Russia, which it partially occupied last year. According to Zelensky, it was only a preventive step, because – as he added – Putin has ambitions to occupy northern Ukraine as well.
“We don’t need their territory, we don’t need their people. We just want to live in peace in our own home without war. That’s all we need. And that’s why such measures were taken,” explained Zelenskyj.
Ukraine received the first 75 billion from the loan from the European Union and the G7 countries
Europe
According to the administration of the outgoing US President Joe Biden, neither Russia nor Ukraine is yet ready for peace negotiations. This was confirmed on Friday by Biden’s adviser on national security issues, John Kirby, when he answered a journalist’s question whether the latest US sanctions against the Russian oil sector are part of the strategy for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Kirby said that this is not a bargaining chip. “At this time, neither side is expected to be ready to negotiate,” Kirby said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also expressed skepticism about the prospects for sustainable peace in Ukraine, even though Moscow announced on Friday its readiness to negotiate “without any conditions”.
ISW pointed out that Moscow simultaneously emphasized the unchanging nature of its attitude towards Ukraine and demands its “denazification, demilitarization” and handing over large territories in the east of the country to Russia.
“No negotiations will lead to a complete and sustainable peace if Putin remains faithful to these demands, despite the Kremlin’s ‘willingness’ to negotiate with Western leaders,” the institute said.
For the first time, women applied for training in the Ukrainian Legion
War in Ukraine
