Ukraine’s Defence Minister Reznikov sends “birthday greetings” to Putin: No one will talk to the person still leading Russia
OLENA ROSHCHINA – FRIDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2022, 09:01
On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, said that there will be no negotiations with him.
Source: Oleksii Reznikov in a video address to Russian officers and military command on 7 October
Quote from Reznikov: "No one will talk with the person who is still leading Russia. This has been already clearly stated by the President of Ukraine.
Who will represent Russia at possible negotiations in the future? I will tell you. It will be the very people who have deceived you and are preparing to lay the blame on you. It’s either them or you. You know that this is true."
Details: Reznikov told Russian military personnel that they "were not sent to die for a good cause" and that is why their president "is hiding in a bunker, rather than standing with you".
"He fears your insight, your contempt, and your righteous anger," Ukraine’s Defence Minister said.
Quote from Reznikov: "Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visits the front. Whether it is Lysychansk under attack or liberated Izium. On many occasions, I have personally presented awards and combat weapons to our greatest warriors right in the trenches. It is an honour for me.
Our president stands together with his army. And where is yours?"
Details: Reznikov noted that NATO countries are supplying Ukraine with weapons, but it is Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting the Russians with these weapons.
He added that the very politicians and officials in Moscow who sent the citizens of their country to fight this war "keep their money and property in NATO countries that supply us with weapons".
"Their families live in NATO countries. Until very recently, they have been perfectly comfortable in London and Washington, DC. They don’t need Lyman, Popasna or Kakhovka; no, not at all. They don’t even know where those cities are," Reznikov said.
He urged Russian soldiers to save Russia from tragedy and to save the Russian army from humiliation, and also guaranteed "safety and justice for all those who refuse to fight".
Background: On 30 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine is ready for negotiations with Russia, but not with Vladimir Putin, only with another president of the Russian Federation. On that day, the National Security Council stated the impossibility of negotiations with Putin, and Zelenskyy approved this by decree.
This was a response to Putin's launch of the annexation of the territory of four regions of Ukraine. Before that, the Ukrainian leader had warned the Kremlin more than once that in the event that new territories of Ukraine were annexed, negotiations would become impossible.
The Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that negotiations with Ukraine would have to wait for a change in the position of the country’s current president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, or for his successor.
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