Volodymyr Zelensky has warned it would be “suicidal” for Europe to offer the Kremlin concessions to halt its invasion of Ukraine, after Moscow demanded the West enter direct talks on ending the war.
The Ukrainian president also denounced a number of European leaders, without specifying who he was referring to, for “strongly” pushing Ukraine to compromise, and denounced some for having a friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin.
‘We need enough weapons, not support for talks. Hugs with Putin won’t help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse,” Zelenskiy said.
Kiev is currently increasing pressure on its allies to increase support for its fight against Russia, following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
Trump boasted during his campaign that he could end the conflict within hours and repeatedly criticized US aid to Kiev, with Zelensky quick to congratulate the Republican on his victory yesterday as he sought to curry his favor.
Volodymyr Zelensky was pictured today holding hands with French President Emmanuel Macron
A burning residential building after a rocket attack in Mykolaivka, Donetsk region, today
Russian President Vladimir Putin is pictured in the Kremlin during a remote ceremony to launch the Arktika-class nuclear-powered icebreaker Chukotka, November 6
Putin has demanded that Ukraine cede more territory in the east and south as a condition for peace talks, while Kiev has repeatedly ruled out ceding the country to Moscow in exchange for peace.
Ukraine and many in the West fear that any arrangement that rewards Putin would only embolden the Kremlin leader and lead to more aggression.
Speaking to European leaders at a summit in Hungary, Zelensky denounced those who pressured him to give in to some of Putin’s tough demands.
“There has been a lot of talk about the need to give in to Putin, to step down, to make some concessions,” Zelensky said. “It is unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe.”
Zelensky met today with Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, among other European leaders, as he works tirelessly to shore up support for his country’s war effort, amid fears that US aid under a Trump administration would can be withdrawn.
His comments come after United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was criticized for apparently bowing while shaking hands with Putin.
Footage also showed Guterres hugging the dictator’s ally, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, during the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
Russia demanded on Thursday that Kiev’s allies enter into negotiations with Moscow if they want to stop brutal attacks on Ukrainians.
Keir Starmer and Zelensky shake hands during the 5th European Political Community Summit in Budapest
Tankers of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces fire with a Leopard 2A4 tank during field training in Ukraine
The head of Russia’s Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, said the West faced a choice between opening direct talks with Moscow or the continued “destruction” of the Ukrainian population.
“Now that the situation on the battlefield is not in Kiev’s favor, the West faces a choice,” Shoigu said at a meeting with defense officials from other former Soviet states.
“To continue financing (Kiev) and destroying the Ukrainian people, or to recognize the current reality and start negotiating,” the former defense minister said.
They were among the first comments from a Russian official since it was confirmed that Trump had been elected president of the United States.
Zelensky has previously said that without US help, Ukraine would lose the war.
His outgunned army is already in the background in the eastern Donbas region, where Russian forces have been slowly advancing for months.
Moscow said Thursday that its forces had seized control of Kreminna Balka, a village with a pre-war population of fewer than 50 people in the industrial Donetsk region where Ukrainian defenses have been pushed back again and again.
President Zelensky was quick to congratulate Trump on his election victory yesterday
Ukraine, meanwhile, faced renewed aerial bombardments across the country, including the capital Kiev, ahead of what could be the country’s worst winter yet.
Ukrainian media reported that authorities of the Donetsk region were preparing to announce mandatory evacuations from seven more villages in the region that the Kremlin claimed in 2022 were part of Russia.
Moscow’s overnight drone strike on Ukraine damaged buildings in the southern Black Sea city of Odesa, where AFP journalists saw residents inspecting destroyed cars and residential buildings as dawn broke.
And according to local officials, at least three people were killed in the airstrikes last night and Thursday – one each in the Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhia regions.
The air force said it had shot down 74 Russian-deployed drones in 11 different regions, out of a total of 106 drones launched by Moscow against Ukraine.