Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the nation late on April 20 calling for all Ukrainian citizens to unite in resolve in the face of the Russian military threat, which has surged greatly in the last weeks.
Moreover, the Ukrainian leader has called on President Vladimir Putin of Russia to hold a meeting in the war zone of Donbas.
“What is happening now?” Zelensky said. “A significant mass of Russian military forces has been concentrated near our borders. Officially, Russia calls it military drills. Unofficially, the whole world calls it intimidation. Does this trouble us? Yes. Do Ukraine and its international partners demand that the troops be withdrawn from our borders? Yes. Because Russia constantly repeats that it seeks peace but it also precipitates escalation at the same time.”
According to various estimates from Ukrainian intelligence and foreign powers, Russian has concentrated between 89,000 and 100,000 troops in areas around eastern Ukraine and in occupied Crimea, which is feared by many as a strategic transition to a new, large-scale invasion of the country.
At the same time, Zelensky said that Ukraine wants to avoid a military escalation.
“Does Ukraine want war?” he said. “No. Is it ready for one? Yes. Is Ukraine going to cease seeking peace diplomatically? Never. Is Ukraine going to defend itself, if it has to? Always. Our principle is simple: Ukraine does not start a war, but it always stands until the very end.”
Zelensky also called on everyone, including rival politicians in Ukraine, to abstain from “emotions” and chest-beating for the sake of publicity, as well as from spreading rumors.
Read also: Will Ukraine be able to survive Russian attack?
Ukraine in 2021 has no illusions and is different from what it was in 2014, in the early days of Russia’s aggression in Crimea and Donbas, according to Zelensky.
“We are not afraid, because we have our splendid army and our defenders,” he said. “They are used to do their job instead of talking. They have high-quality weapons, valuable combat experience, high morale, the readiness to repel anyone and persuasively explain it to any unwanted guests that (invading) our country is forbidden and impossible.”
“Ukraine, a nation of wonderful people is not afraid. It has its military servicepersons, medics, scientists, engineers, inventors, IT developers, architects, builders, farmers, artists, musicians, and poets. We are a nation of creators, not destroyers. We do not destroy other lands and peoples. But this doesn’t mean we can let someone else destroy us. We are ready to put aside our laptops, pointers, microscopes, brushes, pallets, rakes, spaces, and defend our land. We don’t have any other homeland, and we’re not going to surrender as we’re not used to.”
Zelensky said that Ukraine needs its international partners to impose harsh sanctions upon the Kremlin and give Ukrainians strong signals of support in the eighth year of the war.
Lastly, Zelensky addressed the people of Russia in the Russian language, saying that it is impossible “to liberate someone by a conquest” and “bring peace with a tank.” He was referring to Kremlin propaganda’s notorious and unsubstantiated claims that Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine suffer from the Ukrainian government and need to be “saved.”
“Ukraine and Russia, despite their common past, have different views regarding the future,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily a problem, it can be an opportunity. At the very least, it’s an opportunity to stop the casualties of war before it’s too late.”
At the end of his speech, Zelensky addressed Putin, who will have his annual state address on April 21.
“I am ready to go further and suggest that we meet in any part of Ukraine’s Donbas where the war is going on,” Zelensky said.
Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden offered Putin to meet in a neutral country.
Zelensky met with President of France Emmanuel Macron on April 16 to discuss the threat of military escalation in eastern Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined the conversation, too.
