Zelenskyy reveals Western course of action if Russia refuses peace
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that if Russia's war against Ukraine continues, the United States and Europe will keep providing assistance to Kyiv.
Source: Zelenskyy at an online briefing during his return from Europe, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Zelenskyy was asked about what steps the United States would be prepared to take if Russia continues the war and refuses a peace deal. He replied: "There is no alternative to peace. We share a single, unified position with the Americans: the war must be ended through diplomacy, by putting pressure on Russia. Otherwise, the war will continue."
"And, of course, if the war continues, the Americans, together with the Europeans, will continue to support Ukraine because we are defending ourselves in this war, we are fighting, and we are not the aggressors," he added.
Zelenskyy said that Russia wants to continue exerting pressure on Ukraine "with missiles, artillery, and so on", which raises the issue of how robust any future agreements will be.
"Ukraine had the Budapest Memorandums, signed by specific individuals – and that did not work. Then there were the Minsk agreements, which led to a full-scale war. All those pieces of paper did not work. We have now agreed with the Americans that we will have security guarantees supported by the US Congress, which is very important, and by the Ukrainian parliament. The security guarantees will be approved bilaterally," Zelenskyy said.
He added that bilateral agreements with European partners would likewise be confirmed by European parliaments.
"As for the twenty-point plan, we believe it should be endorsed by a referendum. Everyone understands that this would be the strongest historical endorsement of the force of this document. We would very much like to do this. Of course, not everyone views this positively, for all the reasons I have mentioned. Because it would clearly lead to open expression of will not by one person, not by 450 people, but by millions of people," Zelenskyy concluded.
Background:
- On 28 December, Zelenskyy and Trump met in Florida. Afterwards, the two presidents held a video conference with European leaders.
- At a press conference following the meeting, Trump and Zelensky announced that they had been unable to resolve the issue of Donbas.
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