Zelensky: Peace even without Crimea. Moscow: We will always stay in the south of Ukraine

2022-05-06 17:17:43Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Zelensky: Peace even without Crimea. Moscow: We will always stay in the south of
A road damaged in Ukraine by Russian bombing

Ukraine would be willing to accept a peace deal with Russia if Moscow forces withdraw "to their February 23 positions."

This was the statement of President Volodymyr Zelensky, hinting that at least for now Kiev would not wait for the return of Crimea, annexed by the Russians in 2014.

"For our part, not all diplomatic bridges have been burned," he later said, avoiding further advances by Donbass, between Donetsk and Luhansk, which had been out of Kiev control since 2014.

Addressing an online forum hosted by Chatham House this afternoon, he said he was elected president of Ukraine and not a mini-Ukraine. Zelensky stated that he could not allow Ukraine's population to shrink by 11 million, losing territory and including those who had fled abroad.

He saw no Russian desire for peace, and a victory for Ukraine included returning the country economically to where it left off, and calling for membership in the European Union, saying "this is the will of the Ukrainian people."

But Russia says it will stay "forever" in southern Ukraine. The statement came from a key figure in Moscow's parliament, Andrei Turchak, during a visit to Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine under Russian control since March.

 


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