Ukrainian leader looks for a “diplomatic solution.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said that he is committed to focusing on peace with Russia, even as he renews his pleas for more weapons from other countries, The Associated Press (AP) reports.
- While decrying the actions of Russia, Zelenskyy nevertheless pressed for a “diplomatic solution.” “[W]e don’t want to lose opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution,” he said.
- “We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” Zelenskyy added.
- Zelenskyy said he is confident Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horrors they have witnessed in the more than six-week-long war, according to AP.
- The Ukrainian leader relented how the supplies of weapons and other equipment his country has received from the United States and other Western nations were “not enough” to shift the fight in his nation’s favor.
ZELENSKYY UNSURE:
- When asked what impact the current pace of arms deliveries to Ukraine had for his people, Zelenskyy responded, “Very often we look for answers in someone else, but I often look for answers in myself. Did we do enough to get them?”
- “Did we do enough for these leaders to believe in us? Did we do enough?” he went on to ask.
- “Are we the best for this place and this time? Who knows? I don’t know. You question yourself,” Zelenskyy challenged his listeners.
BACKGROUND:
- President Zelenskyy made the comments a day after more than 50 people were killed in a strike on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.
- Russian troops are reportedly regrouping for an amplified push to retake the eastern Donbas region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol that Ukrainian fighters are striving to defend. AP notes.
