The Ukrainian president also said he was not afraid of Putin and wanted to meet with the Russian leader “to end the war”.
Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyystated that it would withdraw from the peace negotiations with the Russia if the army of Wladimir Putin Kill Ukrainians in the city Mariupol and hold “pseudoreferendums” in occupied territories to create more breakaway republics. “If our men are assassinated in Mariupol and if alleged referendums are organized in the Kherson region, Ukraine will withdraw from the whole negotiation process.” Holding a press conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said he was not afraid of Putin and called for a meeting with the Russian leader “to end the war”. “I believe whoever started the war will be able to end it,” said the Ukrainian leader.
Earlier, local councilor Petro Andryushchenko accused Russian troops of preventing the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, which is severely strained by the Putin army’s offensive. He claimed that about 200 residents went to the departure point from the city, but were “dispersed” by the Russian military. Some of them, he added, were forced onto buses bound for Dokuchaievsk, a Russianheld town 80 km north of Mariupol. “People had no right to get off the buses,” he said, adding that the Russians attributed the change in route “to the shelling of nationalists (Ukrainians) in the area.” “Once again, the Russians prevented a withdrawal,” criticized Andryushchenko.
Zelenskyy went on to say that he believed Russia could use nuclear weapons but did not want to believe that Moscow would, and reiterated Ukraine’s need to acquire more weapons. “As soon as we have more weapons, we will recapture the temporarily occupied areas immediately,” he said. The Ukrainian leader also announced the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to talks on arms sales to Ukraine this Sunday, April 24.
*With information from Reuters and AFP