The President of Ukraine gave a press conference in the metro in downtown Kyiv this Saturday. In an unprecedented form and setting, sometimes punctuated by passing trains, he notably renewed his desire for peace between Kyiv and Moscow.
A surreal backdrop. On the 59th day of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference this Saturday in a metro station in downtown Kyiv. Sitting in a chair, escalators behind his back, the head of state answered the dozens of journalists from around the world who had gathered to question him about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which begins its third month this Sunday.
On the eve of the Orthodox Easter, which is sometimes interrupted by the passage of the subway, Zelenskyy first wanted to wish the Ukrainian people peace, but also victory. The word “victory” will come up again and again. In particular, he promised that after his country’s victory over Vladimir Putin’s men, he would have enough time to reply to journalists, even if he chose to do so this Saturday.
Meet Putin and end the war
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his speech that he did not understand Vladimir Putin’s intentions. “It’s difficult to judge his decisions,” he said. And to add, when asked about his Russian counterpart’s policies:
“I find it difficult to understand why he has stuck to his table as president all these years. It is undoubtedly related to the reason why his army came to our country, crawled to our country and invaded our country in cobra. The war has been going on for eight years, and the Russian Federation has tried to influence Ukraine at various levels.”
In addition, the Ukrainian head of state has again spoken out in favor of progress in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
“I think whoever started this war will be able to end it,” Zelenskyy said, reiterating that he was not afraid to meet with Vladimir Putin if it resulted in a peace deal between the two countries.
On the other hand, while the humanitarian corridors in Mariupol are the focus of a deaf dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow, Zelenskyy also warned:
“If Mariupol resistance fighters are killed or the Kherson referendum takes place, Ukraine will leave the negotiation process.”
An upcoming meeting with the head of American diplomacy
During his speech, the former humorist-turned-president also said he was “ready” for “an exchange of our soldiers defending Mariupol” in “any format” to “replace the people who are in a terrible situation surrounded”. .
While describing this Saturday as “one of the toughest days” since the Russian siege of Mariupol began in early March, Ukraine’s president is meeting with US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken this Sunday.
“Tomorrow American officials will join us: I will meet the Secretary of Defense (Lloyd Austin) and Antony Blinken.”
This is the first official visit by US government officials to Ukraine since February 24. hoped that his American counterpart, Joe Biden, could also “come to support the Ukrainian people” in Kyiv if the security situation allowed.
He said talks on Sunday would focus on US arms sales to Ukraine.
“Last week the signals, the news, the steps, the deadlines, the numbers – I’m talking about the weapons of the United States – everything improved,” he said, congratulating himself to the press and saying himself “grateful”. ” to the American government, even if he would like to have “even heavier and more powerful weapons” against the Russian army.
A request comes at a time when the Russian army said on Saturday it had used “high-precision missiles” to target a large weapons cache sold by the United States and European countries to Ukrainian forces near Odessa in southern Ukraine was delivered.
Mathieu Ait Lachkar with AFP