Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference in the Kiev subway for security reasons in the middle of the war against the Russian occupying power. While the humanitarian corridors of Mariupol, a Ukrainian fortress besieged by Vladimir Putin’s troops, are at the heart of talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Zelenskyy told dozens of journalists: “If the resistance fighters in the city are killed, Ukraine will come out of the negotiation process out”. In recent weeks, Russia has attempted to seize the Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol, where thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are resisting. Zelenskyy has threatened to call off peace talks even if a referendum on annexation to Russia is held in Kherson, a Ukrainian city under Russian control. “I say to the people who live in the small towns of the Kherson region: ‘We don’t have to help the occupiers,'” he said.
Weapons in Kyiv from the West
The Ukrainian president then returned to the need to have weapons from Western countries in order to be able to respond to the invasion. Recalling the Kiev resistance, Zelenskyy said that with more weapons, Ukrainian troops would be able to drive the Russians out of Donbass as well: “We want the Kiev scenario to be repeated in Donbass. I remember that the tanks were at the gates of the capital,” he said. “If adequate weapons arrive, Donbass will be able to return to our hands. We repel the attack of a powerful army ». Zelenskyy said of a possible meeting with Putin: “I don’t want to meet him: I have to.”
The appeal to the Vatican for mediation
Zelensky then returned to seek mediation from the Vatican “to achieve a truce and peace”. “We want a truce – said the President – and we ask for help from everyone, including the Holy See”.
