Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is not willing to give up territory in the eastern part of the country to end the war with Russia. He made this statement in an exclusive interview he gave to CNN’s Jake Tapper from the office of the president in Kyiv on 16th April 2022. He said that Ukraine’s military is prepared to fight Moscow’s military in the Donbas region.
According to Zelensky, this battle can change the course of the ongoing war. Zelensky said, “It is very important for us to not allow them, to stand our ground, because this battle can influence the course of the whole war.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will not give away territory to Russia because there is no assurance that Russia will not continue its invasion even after getting the eastern region.
He said, “I don’t trust the Russian military and Russian leadership. That is why we understand that the fact that we fought them off and they left, and they were running away from Kyiv — from the north, from Chernihiv, and from that direction — it doesn’t mean if they are able to capture Donbas, they won’t come further towards Kyiv. Ukraine must stand its grounds in the battle of Donbas.”
Zelensky added, “I have the same opinion as President Biden. Look what happened in Bucha. It’s clear that is not even a war, it’s a genocide. They just killed people. Not soldiers, people. They just shot people in the streets. People were riding bicycles, taking the bus or just walking down the street. There were corpses lining the streets.”
Zelensky also said, “I don’t believe the world. We don’t believe the words. After the escalation of Russia, we don’t believe our neighbors. We don’t believe all of this.”
Refusing to do peace talks on the terms set by Russia, Zelensky said, “As I said before, what’s the price of all this? It’s people. The many people who have been killed. And who ends up paying for all of this? It’s Ukraine. Just us. So for us, this is a really great cost. If there is an opportunity to speak, we’ll speak. But to speak only under a Russian ultimatum? It’s then a question about attitude towards us, not about whether the dialogue is ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ It’s impossible.”
On 24th February 2022, Russia started its military operations on the eastern borders of Ukraine and since then the war situation has become increasingly grave. Russia had faced many sanctions from the western countries including the USA and the UK and other members of NATO. This interview of Zelensky came in the seventh week of the ongoing war.
