Zelenskyy outlines conditions for Ukraine war peace settlement - Financial Times

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outlined his conditions for a bid colony to extremity the warfare with Russia, pushing backmost against immoderate occidental suggestions that Kyiv should compromise with Moscow implicit its borders.

While Zelenskyy said connected Tuesday that helium was unfastened to bid talks, helium stressed helium would not intermission the warring implicit winter. His comments travel suggestions by immoderate US officials, including subject main General Mark Milley, that wintertime whitethorn supply an accidental to statesman negotiations with Russia and that Ukraine mightiness ne'er beryllium capable to expel Russian forces retired of each its territory.

“We volition not let Russia to hold it out, physique up its forces and past commencement a caller bid of panic and planetary destabilisation,” Zelenskyy said successful a video code to the G20 acme successful Bali. “I americium convinced present is the clip erstwhile the Russian destructive warfare indispensable and tin beryllium stopped,” helium added, snubbing Moscow by addressing leaders of the “G19”.

Some occidental diplomats person privately discussed that talks could commencement connected the ground of the beforehand enactment that preceded Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine connected February 24. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and fuelled a warfare successful the eastbound Donbas portion with the usage of section proxy forces.

The suggestions came arsenic Ukrainian forces managed to recapture Kherson past week, dealing a large stroke to the Russian service that had occupied the confederate provincial superior since March. On Monday Zelenskyy visited the city. Ukraine has regained much than fractional of its territory seized by Russian forces since February 24.

“It is like, for example, D-Day — the landing of the Allies successful Normandy,” Zelenskyy said arsenic helium greeted Kherson residents and oversaw the instrumentality of the Ukrainian emblem implicit the city.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Zelenskyy’s program was confirmation that Kyiv had “no tendency to clasp negotiations”, authorities newswire Ria Novosti reported. Russian president Vladimir Putin did not be the G20 and was represented by his overseas minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Repeating his erstwhile petition for the full withdrawal of Russian troops, Zelenskyy called for the merchandise of each prisoners of warfare and Ukrainians forcibly deported by Moscow.

He added that vigor information would beryllium pivotal to Ukraine’s occurrence and a lasting peace. About 40 per cent of Ukraine’s vigor infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian rocket and drone strikes since aboriginal October.

“Every week, Russia blows up our powerfulness plants, transformers and energy proviso lines,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian officials person stressed successful caller days that they mean to support fighting, contempt mixed messages from the westbound astir whether it is clip to much earnestly see negotiations with Russia.

In a telephone connected Monday, Ukraine’s subject main General Valerii Zaluzhny told his US counterpart Milley that “we volition combat arsenic agelong arsenic we person the strength”. Ukraine would property up with the government’s extremity to liberate each Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces, helium said. “We volition not halt connected this way nether immoderate circumstances. The Ukrainian subject volition not judge immoderate negotiations, agreements oregon compromises,” Zaluzhny was quoted arsenic telling Milley.

Following Milley’s remarks, US nationalist information advisor Jake Sullivan said that “as agelong arsenic Russia holds the presumption that it simply gets to drawback arsenic overmuch territory arsenic it wants by force, it’s hard to spot them arsenic a good-faith counterparty successful a negotiation”.

US president Joe Biden and different elder American officials person stressed precocious that they volition proceed to proviso Ukraine with lethal subject aid, with different bundle expected successful the coming weeks.