President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Moscow hopes to “break” the Ukrainian resistance in the winter, relying on Ukraine’s heating problems and the possibility of Western support for Kiev being weakened by rising energy prices in Europe.
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“Russia is doing its best to break the resistance of Ukraine, Europe and the world within 90 days of this winter,” he said during the annual Yalta European Strategy Forum (YES) in Kyiv. This is his last argument.
“Winter’s brutality is supposed to help when human brutality isn’t enough,” Mr. Zelensky continued as his army took control of important areas of eastern Ukraine.
He stressed that the Russian army could thus strike “companies and infrastructure that provide heating” in Ukraine, calling on the West in this context to provide Kyiv with more anti-aircraft defense systems.
For Mr. Zelensky, Moscow could also “zero” gas shipments to Europe in order to force Western capitals to seek compromises with Moscow.
“We have to prepare the communities (…). Winter will be harsh for everyone, from Latvia and Poland to Great Britain and the United States,” Mr. Zelensky said. “We have to survive this winter.”
He called on Westerners to remain united against Russia, warning of “weariness” from the war in Ukraine.
“We must maintain support for Ukraine in its war,” the head of state said. “We need tangible things: weapons, missiles, financial and political support,” he said.
“Don’t expect us to say ‘enough.'” Mr. Zelensky insisted there wouldn’t be enough + until we win.
Finally, he warned against Western attempts to “push” Kyiv to reach a compromise with Moscow.
We can’t stop. This is my main message to (…) some of the leaders who are pushing us into the arms of Russia, declared Mr. Zelensky, whose country, according to the government, depends on Western aid for 40% of its military budget.
Negotiations with Moscow are currently impossible, because “nobody believes” the Russian authorities, he said.
According to a Ukrainian news website, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken raised the idea of resuming peace talks during his meeting with Zelensky on Thursday in Kyiv.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksich Reznikov, for his part, has ruled out any territorial settlement with Russia, particularly regarding Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, and Donbass, a vast industrial basin in eastern Ukraine. separatists since the same year.
He stressed that “we can only talk about restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its borders recognized in 1991”, when this country declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
“This means that the whole of Crimea is Ukraine and Donbass as well,” Mr. Reznikov stressed, also insisting on the sums that Moscow will have to pay in the future for reparations to his country and the need to punish Russian leaders.
