Even partial ceasefire will be positive result, bring Ukraine closer to ending the war – Zelenskyy
Any partial ceasefire will bring Ukraine closer to ending the war and will therefore be a positive result, notes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"I believe that even if there is a partial ceasefire, and an unconditional partial ceasefire, I believe that this is a positive result. In any case, this brings us closer to that one-year end to the war, or some steps that in any case are towards peace, and not towards further complicating military, combat situations on the front," Zelenskyy told reporters during a video call on Tuesday.
He stated that he is skeptical about the statements of the Russian side. "This does not mean that we do not want a ceasefire, we are skeptical from the point of view of trust in the Russians - there is no trust in Putin. That is why I say that we need to understand how this will technically happen, so that it does not depend only on their wishes," the Ukrainian president said.
Zelenskyy noted that after a conversation with US President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin immediately said, gave the order to stop attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, but after that Ukraine was attacked by the Russian Federation. "This is, in principle, a response to what is happening. Russia, as far as I know, immediately during a conversation with President Trump said that they were giving the order to stop attacks on energy or long-range weapons, including martyrs. But now there is air raid alarm in Ukraine, that is, so far this is not working," he said.
According to the president, he understands Putin's steps and he "will not allow" a ceasefire to be achieved quickly. "He will then use other steps, obstacles, let's call them conditionally. President Trump and his American colleagues, they have just spoken with the Russians about a possible ceasefire on energy infrastructure. I think that with such steps, it can probably work forward. As for Putin's political will, the alarm [announced in Ukraine] is the answer to you," Zelenskyy added.
He noted that the meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations in Jeddah took place on March 11 and since then Ukraine has been repeatedly attacked by the Russian Federation, which indicates the Russian side's unwillingness to end the war. "In principle, if you want the war to end and do not want it to start again, and Putin shows that he does not want it, he is afraid that the Ukrainians will disrupt it, but there is hard statistics. That is, since March 11, if you do not want the war to continue, the numbers will probably be different, and the numbers are as follows: 1,342 cluster bombs, eight missiles, 580 Shaheds, 44 Lancets, 250 other strikes. Not on the battlefield - we are talking about everything, about civilian infrastructure, first of all, when we talk about Shaheds and missiles and the like. That is, this is the answer," Zelenskyy said.
Later he wrote on Telegram: "Ukraine is ready for the necessary steps, but now it is Russia that must demonstrate its readiness, because it is Russia that is prolonging the war and proving that only Moscow needs the war."