“The Russian president is not capable of negotiating anything with anyone”

O President of Ukraine declared, this Wednesday, that “the Russian president is not capable of negotiating anything with anyone”, during an interview with the Italian channel Sky TG24.

Asked about possible negotiations with Russia, President Zelensky stated that “the Russian President is not capable of negotiating anything with anyone”, because “even after having given his promise and agreed with the UN Secretary General, with the President [turco] Erdogan, made the decision to abandon the grain agreement.

Support from the United States? Ukraine “will do everything” to maintain

Regarding the support of the United States and Europe in its difficult fight against Russia’s invasion, Zelensky assured that Ukraine “will do everything” to maintain this help.

“The United States is one of the leaders in helping and supporting Ukraine, in protecting democracy. I feel there is support in the United States. There is 100% support from the White House [e um] great support in Congress. They didn’t let us down at a very difficult time. Although there were different voices, different voices among the representatives of the Republican Party. But for the most part, both Democrats and Republicans supported Ukraine,” he said.

Zelensky said he believes Russia is now weaker than it was at the start of the war, so stopping support or turning the fighting into a frozen conflict would mean, in some way, helping the aggressor.

“It’s not about not helping Ukraine and complicating our offensive or defensive actions. No, it’s not. Any pause today is an exclusive help for the Russian Federation,” he said, highlighting his personal gratitude to Biden and the leaders of European countries that support Ukraine.

“We will do everything not to lose him”, he concluded.

Counteroffensive? “Slowly” but “surely” expelling Russia from Ukraine

The Ukrainian leader also highlighted that, although “slowly”, the Ukrainian counter-offensive is “surely” expelling Russia from its lands, assuming that the shortage of weapons and ammunition poses difficulties on the war front line.

“The difficulty is that the fields are mined. The difficulty is that there is a shortage of weapons and ammunition, especially a great shortage of air defense”, he assumed.

Considering that there is a “deficit”, he highlighted that air defense is important for the counteroffensive and to protect the population.

“We need to spend this winter with dignity”

The approaching winter could also pose another challenge for Ukrainians, laments Zelensky, referring to “all our citizens, all our civilians, ordinary working people and our soldiers.”

“We need to get through this winter with dignity, without losing the initiative we have on the battlefield,” he declared, adding that “intimidations” from Moscow’s troops will likely intensify during the colder months.

It should be remembered that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is now four months old with advances in the Russian stronghold of Bakhmut (Donetsk), and in the region and Zaporizhia (southeast) in addition to attempts to land in Crimea, with Russia insisting on actions doomed to failure.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).

Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied weapons to Kyiv and approved successive sanctions packages against Russian interests to try to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort.

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