2023-06-03 15:11:00
From the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his country is “ready” to launch a counteroffensive against Russian troops, though he claimed he needed more Western-supplied weaponry first, especially air defense systems.
Ukraine has assured for months that it is preparing for a major offensive that will seek to recover the territories occupied by Moscow since the large-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
Zelensky also expressed his frustration ahead of the NATO summit, the military alliance Ukraine wants to join, in the Lithuanian capital next month.
Zelensky insisted, however, that kyiv needed more time. and weapons to start the counteroffensive. “A large number of soldiers will die” if kyiv does not receive the weapons to deal with Moscow’s air power, he said in an interview published by the Wall Street Journal.
The Ukrainian president affirmed that it would be “dangerous” to launch the counterattack without further Western help, although kyiv is “ready” to recover the territories lost after 15 months of invasion.
His statements coincide with new bombardments launched this week against the capital. “Everyone knows perfectly well that any counteroffensive without air superiority is very dangerous,” he insisted.
“Imagine the feeling of a soldier who knows he has no roof and does not understand why the neighboring countries do have it”, he exemplified.
Zelensky also stressed that the only weaponry capable of protecting Ukraine was the US-made Patriot air defense systems, and called for more to be delivered to kyiv.
“The reality is that 50 Patriots will, for the most part, prevent people from dying,” he said.
Zelensky also expressed his frustration ahead of the NATO summit.the military alliance to which Ukraine wants to join, in the Lithuanian capital next month.
“If we are not recognized and we are not given a sign in Vilnius (the Lithuanian capital where the summit will take place), I think there is no point in Ukraine being at this summit,” he said.
Indonesia presented a peace initiative for Ukraine, but kyiv said it “looks like a Russian plan”
Indonesia presented this Saturday an initiative for peace in Ukraine that implies a ceasefire “in the current positions”, the intervention of UN forces and referendums “in the disputed areas”, but it was quickly rejected by Kiev, which He described it as “strange” and noted that “it seems like a Russian plan.”
At the Shangri-La Dialogue taking place in Singapore, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto proposed implementing a ceasefire “in the current positions” and creating demilitarized zones with observers and United Nations peacekeeping forces. .
The official from the Southeast Asian country and G20 member also suggested that the UN organize a “referendum on the disputed areas.”
“I am presenting a conflict resolution plan,” Subianto said, adding: “I am not saying who is right or who is wrong.”
Given this, the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, rejected the proposal: “It seems like a Russian plan, not an Indonesian plan”-
“We don’t need this mediator to come to us [con] this strange plan,” he added, quoted by the AFP news agency.
The head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also expressed his reservations with the proposal to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
“We have to bring peace to Ukraine,” but it must be a “just peace, not a peace of surrender,” he said.
Indonesia, a supporter of non-aligned diplomacy, had already tried to play a mediating role before.
President Joko Widodo met last year with the leaders of both countries, in separate visits to kyiv and Moscow. The country also hosted the G20 summit of developed and emerging powers in November.
Indonesia voted in favor of a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but did not apply economic sanctions against Moscow.
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