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Zelensky says he will not be kind to Putin who he considers an enemy
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Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to negotiate the end of the Ukraine war with Russian president Vladimir Putin if it is the only method to bring peace to Ukraine.
“If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely, we will go for this set-up for the meeting,” he told British journalist Piers Morgan yesterday.
“I will not be kind to him. I consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well,” Mr Zelensky said.
This comes shortly after he said Ukraine has lost more than 45,000 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Mr Zelensky said that Ukraine has suffered at least 45,100 deaths and a total of 390,000 injured in the war, adding that nearly half of the wounded soldiers later returned to fighting on the war frontlines. Ukraine claims Russia has suffered at least 842,390 casualties in the war, a figure Moscow has not confirmed.
And, Russia has voiced its opposition to Donald Trump’s demands that Ukraine pay for US support with rare minerals.
US president Donald Trump has announced he wants Ukraine to pay for financial and military support by affording Washington access to the country’s vast but untapped rare earth minerals.
He said on Monday he wants “equalisation” from Ukraine for the US’ “close to $300 billion” in support.
“We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths,” Mr Trump said. “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”
The Kremlin jumped on the comments, saying it demonstrated the US is no longer willing to provide free aid to Kyiv, before adding, unsurprisingly, that it was against Mr Trump giving any help to Ukraine whatsoever.
More than 50 per cent of Ukraine’s critical rare earth mineral resources are in regions illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin and partially occupied by his forces
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview broadcast yesterday that Ukraine was prepared to proceed along a diplomatic track to end the nearly three-year-old war against Russia.
“If people believe we must move to the diplomatic track, and I believe we are ready to move to the diplomatic track, there must be us, Europe… and Russia,” he said in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.
Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to Vladimir Putin’s claims that his Ukrainian presidency is illegitimate and said that Ukraine cannot hold elections due to Russian invasion.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly dismissed Mr Zelensky as a participant in any talks, saying he had failed to submit to elections when his term in office ended in May 2024.
Ukraine has said no election is legally possible while martial law remains in force. In the interview yesterday, Mr Zelensky rejected the Kremlin’s argument, saying he was elected in 2019 with 73 per cent of the vote.
“I have always been open to elections. But during a war, elections require constitutional changes and serious legal adjustment,” he said.
“The key issue isn’t just legal – it’s human. How will soldiers in trenches vote? What about millions of Ukrainians in occupied territories. Do their voices no longer matter? And what about eight million Ukrainians forced abroad by war?”
Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to negotiate the end of the Ukraine war with Russian president Vladimir Putin if it is the only method to bring peace to Ukraine.
“If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely, we will go for this set-up for the meeting,” he told British journalist Piers Morgan yesterday.
“We will be speaking with Putin. Even the conversation with Putin is a compromise,” Mr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president said his personal stance towards the Russian leader does not matter in the present situation.
“I will not be kind to him. I consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well,” Mr Zelensky said.
Presenting the present battlefield scenario, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine is currently unable to reclaim all its territories and “cannot lose millions of people for the result that is not yet clear will ever happen”.
Ukraine has lost more than 45,000 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The death toll from the Ukrainian president is a rare statement presented about the battlefield losses, which has been treated as a state secret by both sides – Kyiv and Moscow.
Mr Zelensky said that Ukraine has suffered at least 45,100 deaths and a total of 390,000 injured in the war, in an interview with Piers Morgan.
The war-time president has said previously that approximately half of the soldiers wounded later return to fighting.
Ukraine claims Russia has suffered at least 842,390 casualties in the war, a figure Moscow has not confirmed.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze for 90 days the humanitarian aid that the United States provides to countries overseas is being felt in places far from Washington
A drone attack by Ukraine sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region, the governor of the region in southern Russia said early today.
“The fire has been contained, there are no casualties,” Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram.
He said that 55 people and 19 units of equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire.
Despite more than a year of warnings that critical Ukrainian nuclear energy infrastructure sites are vulnerable to potential Russian attacks, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry has failed to act swiftly to protect them
Donald Trump has issued a demand to Ukraine in which Kyiv guarantees supplies of rare earth minerals to the US as payment for war aid. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has previously floated the idea as part of his plan to end with conflict with Russia. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday (3 February), Trump said: “We’re telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths. “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things.”
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