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The Ukrainian president holds his “second major press conference” in kyiv since the outbreak of the conflict
He perceives the Chinese peace proposal with skepticism and believes that a Turkish mediation comes “too late”
MADRID, 24 (EUROPA PRESS)
The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, considers that victory in the war is “inevitable” if all Kiev’s allies “do their homework”, as he has announced at a press conference on the occasion of the first anniversary of the conflict.
“I want us to win this year, we have everything to win this year, but we have to do our homework, because no country can defend itself,” he made it known.
The president has insisted that the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022 was the beginning of a widespread attack against “the right to life” after eight years of conflict confined to eastern Ukraine, in the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Zelensky has in fact been adamant about a possible “compromise” solution with Moscow. “It will only be possible when Russia stops killing civilians, destroying our infrastructure, and burning our forests,” he has stated.
The president has assured, however, that his country continues to present Russia with a peace formula that Moscow has completely rejected. Zelenski has reached out to countries like China, India or the Latin American community to join Ukraine towards a negotiated solution to the conflict.
However, Zelensky has expressed his skepticism about alternative formulas such as the one presented by China. “At the very least, China has started talking about us, calling us an ‘invaded country,’ and I think that’s fine. But China is not exactly pro-Ukrainian and what acts follow these words remains to be seen.”
“It doesn’t really seem like a proposition to me. Really, only a country participating in a conflict seems capable of doing that. When China tells us that it presents a formula, it gives us to understand that it does not want to get involved in the conflict. I hope that China bet on the right side and, indeed, do not supply Russia with weapons,” he explained, before warning that Beijing’s intervention in the conflict could be a trigger for a world conflict.
In the same way, and regarding a mediation offer from Turkey, the president considers that the proposal from Ankara, a country much closer to Ukraine, “comes too late” given the failure of the initial efforts carried out by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I only ask China to talk to us,” the Ukrainian president added in this regard at a press conference that began with a minute of silence for the victims of the invasion, punctuated by moments of cordiality with an Azeri journalist with whom he met He has taken a photo in the middle of a press conference and moments of reflection on these 12 months of war.
“I think that the Bucha massacre has been the worst moment I have gone through so far,” said Zelenski, whose government and its allies have accused Russia of the executions of almost 460 people in this town, near Kiev, during the occupation. of the place. “The moment we ended the Russian vacancy in Bucha. It was horrible,” he said.