Zelenskyy on peace and refusal to cede Donbas: Ukraine will do everything to ensure war ends with dignity
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine does not believe promises of peace in exchange for territorial concessions to Russia.
He said this in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Censor.NET reports.
Crimea and Donbas
The president recalled that after Crimea was seized, both Europe and America "quite openly" made calls, held meetings and sent signals to Ukraine's leadership at the time that "there should be no escalation."
"When Putin seized Crimea, both Europe and America quite openly made calls, held meetings and sent signals to the Ukrainians in power that there should be no escalation, let's just get along, let's leave things as they are for now. We were left without Crimea. After that, we were left without part of Donbas. But there was constant gunfire in the east. There was no peace," Zelenskyy said.
According to him, many people believe Ukraine has always received help, but that is not the case. Assistance, Zelenskyy said, began after the full-scale invasion, eight years after the occupation.
"That is a long time to figure this out and understand that Putin has no intention of giving anything back to us," the president said.
His response to Europeans about Donbas
Zelenskyy described a conversation with Europeans who asked why he believed Russia would advance further if Ukraine withdrew from Donbas.
"I replied: 'Because at the beginning of the war, he wasn't seizing Donbas — he came for the capital. He seized the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kherson region, Kherson and the Kharkiv region.' We have recaptured a great deal, but he was seizing different parts of our country. And now they want us to give them something because they are unable to seize it," he said.
Ending the war
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine seeks an end to the war, but only on acceptable terms.
"We may have less territory, less money and fewer weapons, but we still have more dignity than many others. We will do everything to end this war, but it must end with dignity for us," he stressed.
