Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a lengthy interview with journalists from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, expressed confidence that the Ukrainian offensive, which was repeatedly discussed in Kiev, would be successful and would lead to the liberation of the currently occupied Ukrainian territories. by Russia.
At the same time, Zelenskyy stressed the importance of arms deliveries to Ukraine. “I’m not ready to say when it will be, in what way. Yes, a lot depends on us, but there are a lot of details in the supply of this or that weapon. We want to save as many lives as possible, then weapons are of decisive importance,” Zelenskyy said. According to the Ukrainian president, with an insufficient level of weapons supply, the war could drag on for “decades.”
At the same time, according to Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not delay the counteroffensive until it receives F-16 fighters from partners. “No, it won’t. We will start and move forward,” the Ukrainian president said. So far, no country has promised F-16 deliveries to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy stressed that he was confident that Ukraine would be able to return the Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014. “When we reach the borders of Crimea, you will see how the Russians will flee,” Zelenskyy said.
President of Ukraine underline that the country is not ready to make territorial concessions. According to Zelenskyy, the war will end differently for Ukraine than for Finland, the war with the Soviet Union in 1939-1940 – and, unlike Finland, it will not have to give up part of its territories to keep his independence.
Zelenskyy said he was convinced that Russia had become “very weak” since the spring of last year, mainly on the moral front. “They’re a big powerful state, and they have a lot of different weapons, but morally a lot of things have changed since then… They’re scared, they’re scared to die. I think their spirit was broken. They do not understand how it happened – “we arrived in Kiev, another two or three days, and we will finish”… They were morally broken, “said the President of Ukraine.
Responding to the publication of excerpts from Zelenskyy’s interview, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, in his characteristic style urged to “inflict the maximum military defeat on the Ukrainian Armed Forces” and “the final overthrow of the Nazi regime in Kiev”.
After the start of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian troops occupied large areas of this country. However, in the spring of last year they withdrew from the vicinity of Kiev and northern Ukraine, and in the fall the Ukrainian army drove them out of a number of districts in the region of Kharkiv. The Russian army also left Kherson and the entire right-bank part of the Kherson region.
Preparations for a Ukrainian offensive (as a rule, Ukrainian representatives call it a “counteroffensive”) have been discussed for several months. According to recent reports, it could start in May or early summer. In Kiev, however, they say they won’t “reveal the cards” and will announce the deadlines in advance.
Ukraine aims to liberate all of its internationally recognized territory, including Crimea and Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
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