Zelenskyy: Putin has effectively started World War III, but Ukraine is preventing full-scale escalation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has effectively begun World War III, but it is Ukraine's resistance that is preventing the conflict from turning into a full-scale global war.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with the ВВС

Quote: "I believe that Putin has already started it [World War III]. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him... Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves. Therefore, I believe and have long believed that Putin has already begun this war, and we're preventing it from becoming a broad, full-scale third world war."

Details: Zelenskyy also commented on the prospect of restoring Ukraine's borders to those of 1991. He said that achieving this would be a victory for justice, but attempting it militarily right now would cost millions of lives.

He stressed that Ukraine currently does not have enough weapons to carry out such actions, noting that land without people is nothing.

The president also rejected proposals to cede 20% of Donetsk Oblast under Ukrainian control in exchange for a ceasefire. He described this as "weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there," which he said would divide Ukrainian society.

On security guarantees from the US, Zelenskyy said they must be anchored in institutions and congressional decisions, as presidents change, but agreements need to last for decades.

Background: Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in a video address marking the Soviet-era holiday on 23 February, said Russia will continue a large-scale build-up of its military potential and called on society for total militarisation.

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