A cease-fire that would allow Russia to retain territory seized after the February 24 incursion would only provide Moscow with a welcome opportunity to replenish its forces and rearm for the next round of the conflict, which could expand further.
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“Freezing the conflict would mean a pause that would give Russia a break to rest,” Zelenskyy said, speaking to reporters at the heavily fortified presidential palace in Kyiv.
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At the same time, the head of state thanked the Western allies for enduring the economic difficulties brought about by the war.
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“It is difficult for them, now they have high prices, they are suffering from discomfort because of this war, because of the crises made by the Russians,” said the Ukrainian president. He warned that while diplomatic concessions to Moscow might somewhat stabilize the markets now, they would only provide a temporary respite and would all come back like a boomerang in the future.
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“It (Russia) is a whale that swallowed two regions and now says: Freeze the conflict,” Zelenskyy noted, adding that in two or three years Russia would seize other regions and call for a cease-fire again. “And so it would go on and on. One hundred percent,” he added.
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According to Zelensky, this is evidenced by the experience with the Minsk peace agreements. They sanctified the partial occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and thus laid the foundation for the current war, in which Russia seized the Kherson region and partially also the Zaporozhye region.
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On the other hand, according to their president, the Ukrainians believe that they must first recapture all the lost territories and only then will it be time to sit down for negotiations. “The sooner we do it, the less people will die,” he added.
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We will not let the blood wash away
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of not being willing to fulfill the terms of the preliminary peace agreement that the two sides agreed on in Istanbul in late March.
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Zelenskyi has now dismissed Putin’s outbursts as “total delirium.” Before the Russian invasion, Kyiv was desperately trying to find a diplomatic solution, but Putin wouldn’t even pick up the phone, Zelenskyy said.
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“He came here without negotiations, killed people, drove 12 million people from their homes, and now he says that Ukraine does not want to negotiate,” Zelenskyi was indignant. “They kill people, destroy cities, and then say, ‘Let’s negotiate.’ Who can they talk to? With stones? They are covered in blood and this blood cannot be washed away. We won’t let it wash away,” he added, adding that after the tragedies of the past five months, Ukrainians are not in the mood for talks with the Russians: “Until they get in the face, they won’t understand anything.”
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In the interview, Zelenskyi also pointed out that the American HIMARS rocket launchers represent a new quality, but Ukraine received too few of them than it needs to turn the war around. According to him, an even more urgent need is air defense systems that could prevent Russia from showering cities hundreds of kilometers from the front with rockets and missiles.
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