Zelenskyy: Putin fears direct talks and is trying to buy time to continue war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is afraid of talks and only appears abroad to buy time for killings, pretending that he is seeking diplomacy.
Source: Zelenskyy in his address to the UN Security Council high-level meeting on Ukraine, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine
Quote: "The Russian representative is here. But of course not the one who makes the real decisions.
That man fears to sit face to face with Ukraine and the world and openly admit – he wants only war. Instead, Putin sends delegates who cannot and don’t want to stop the bloodshed. And when he appears abroad – in Beijing, or somewhere else – it’s only to buy more time for killing, pretending he seeks diplomacy."
Details: Zelenskyy added that Russia kills Ukrainians every day, destroys Ukrainian cities and shows no sign that it will ever return to the principles of the UN Charter.
He also said that he had discussed "a few good ideas" for achieving peace with US President Donald Trump and hopes they will work.
Quote: "I’m grateful for this meeting. And we expect America’s actions to push Russia toward peace."
Details: Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is currently building a new security architecture together with the United Kingdom, France and over 30 countries from the Coalition of the Willing, adding that he had discussed a joint airspace defence system with Trump and other leaders.
Quote: "If we could strengthen our skies with a joint system to shoot down Russian missiles and drones, it would force Russia to stop its attacks from the sky – because everything could be shot down. And so, Putin would be forced to sit here, or in another respectful venue, and look for a truce on the ground."
Background:
- Meanwhile, Trump said he now believes in Ukraine's chances of regaining control over its territory within its internationally recognised borders.
- Trump published this post after meeting Zelenskyy.
- The public part of their conversation only briefly touched on Russia's war against Ukraine: among other things, Trump said he was not yet ready to talk about US security guarantees for Kyiv and that he would say whether he trusted Russian leader Vladimir Putin "in about a month".
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!