Photo: https://www.president.gov.ua/
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Vladimir Putin is lying about the real situation on the battlefield and called on all those who can influence Russia to take decisive steps to put pressure on it.
“Yesterday we heard Putin’s statements – he puts forward some conditions that clearly show: he does not want any ceasefire. He needs a war – this has always been obvious, and this is obvious now. Putin is lying about the real situation on the battlefield, he is lying about the losses, he is lying about the true state of his economy, which has suffered from his ill-gotten imperial ambitions, and he is doing everything possible to ensure that diplomacy fails. Putin cannot get out of this war, because then he will be left with nothing,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday.
According to the president, this is why Putin is now doing everything possible to sabotage diplomacy, putting forward extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions even before the ceasefire.
“Putin will try to drag everyone into endless discussions, just as he did with Minsk, wasting days, weeks and months on meaningless negotiations, while his weapons continue to kill people. Every condition that Putin puts forward is just an attempt to block any diplomacy,” Zelenskyy noted.
The president strongly urged everyone who has influence on Russia, especially the United States, to take strong steps that can help.
“Pressure should be directed at those who do not want to stop the war. Pressure should be on Russia. Only decisive action can stop this war that has been going on for years,” he stressed.
He noted that Ukraine could prepare a reliable peace plan during the period of ceasefire, put it on the table, discuss the details and implement it.
“We are ready. We believe that the responsibility of our partners is to ensure that Russia is ready to end the war – not to look for reasons to continue it for weeks, months or years, but to end it. Putin will not end the war himself. But America’s power is enough to force him to do so,” the president stressed.