Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday it would be “suicidal” for Europe to make concessions to the Kremlin to stop its invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow demanded direct talks with the West to end the war.
Kiev is trying to increase pressure on its allies for more support in its fight against Moscow following Donald Trump’s victory in this week’s US presidential election.
Trump has claimed he could end the conflict within hours and has repeatedly criticized US aid to Kiev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine cede more territory in its east and south as a precondition for peace talks, while Kiev has repeatedly refused to cede any land to Moscow in exchange for peace.
Many in Ukraine and the West fear that any deal rewarding Putin would only embolden the Kremlin leader and lead to more aggression.
Speaking to European leaders at a summit in Hungary, Zelensky criticized those who were pressuring him to give in to some of Putin’s radical demands.
“There has been a lot of discussion about the need to bow to Putin, to step back and make some concessions,” Zelensky said, according to a copy of the address provided to AFP by the Ukrainian president.
“This is unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe,” he said.
He also criticized some European leaders who are “strongly” pressing Ukraine for a deal without explaining why.
Zelensky said, “We need enough weapons, not support in negotiations. Hugging Putin will not help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years and the situation is getting worse.”
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Russia earlier Thursday demanded that Kiev’s allies negotiate with Moscow if they want to stop brutal attacks on Ukrainians.
Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia’s Security Council, said the West faces a choice between starting direct negotiations with Moscow or the continued “extermination” of Ukraine’s population.
“Now, when 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 the destruction of the Ukrainian population or to recognize the current realities and start negotiations,” the former defense minister said.
They were among the first comments by a Russian official after Trump was confirmed as President of the United States.
Zelensky previously said that without American aid, Ukraine would lose the war.
His demoralized and disarmed forces are already on the backfoot in the eastern Donbass region, where Russian forces have been slowly advancing for months.
Moscow said on Thursday its forces had regained control of the village of Kreminna Balka, located in the industrial Donetsk region, which had a pre-war population of less than 50, where Ukrainian defenses have been repeatedly pushed back.
Meanwhile, Ukraine faced another night of aerial bombardment across the country, including the capital Kiev, ahead of the country’s toughest winter ever.
overnight attacks
Ukrainian media reported that authorities in the Donetsk region were preparing to announce mandatory evacuations from seven more villages in the region, which the Kremlin claimed would be part of Russia, in 2022.
Moscow’s overnight drone attack on Ukraine damaged buildings in the southern Black Sea city of Odessa, where AFP journalists saw residents inspecting destroyed cars and residential buildings as the morning dawned.
And at least three people were killed in air strikes overnight and into Thursday, according to local officials – one each in the Kherson, Sumy and Zaporizhia regions.
The air force said it has shot down 74 Russian-deployed drones in 11 different areas out of a total of 106 drones launched by Moscow in Ukraine.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
