Zelenskyy says Ukraine and US differ on Russia's willingness to end war

Anastasia Protz - 26 March, 10:22

Zelenskyy. Photo: Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine sees no willingness on Russia's part to end the war and called for increased pressure on Moscow, while the United States believes Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is seeking a way to end it, highlighting a difference in views between the two sides.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde

Quote: "We do not see any genuine desire from Russia to end the war, and we share this view with our partners. The United States believes that Putin wants the war to end. Our views here are completely different."

Details: Zelenskyy noted that differences in views on Russia's intentions are not inherently problematic. However, Ukraine, focused on ending the war as soon as possible, is calling for continued pressure on Russia.

Quote: "We know that Putin does not want to end the war. We call for additional pressure to make him want to. But the US believes he wants to end it, so why apply extra pressure if Russia is showing it is also ready for peace?"

Background:

On 25 March, Zelenskyy said that Russia is preparing an operation targeting Ukraine's water supply systems in the coming months.
On 24 March, the Ukrainian leader stated that the large-scale Russian drone attack on Ukraine which had begun on the night of 23-24 March and continued during the day on 24 March shows that Russia has no intention of ending the war and that more pressure is needed.
Ukraine's Air Force reported earlier that Russia had launched 556 attack drones during the day on 24 March, while Ukrainian air defence had downed 541 of them as of 18:00. In total, Russia had launched 948 UAVs over a 24-hour period.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!