(Lviv) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday urged his Western allies to “urgently strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield”, as Kyiv’s forces have been retreating for months against the Russian army.
Posted at 11:49 a.m.
“The main thing that will unite us,” during Thursday’s meeting with the Europeans in Brussels, “is to determine how to urgently strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, politically, and geopolitically,” Mr. Zelensky said during a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Lviv (western Ukraine).
The Ukrainian president, whose country has been fighting for almost three years to repel a Russian invasion, also urged Europeans to be united with Kyiv in the face of American President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to take office in January.
The return of the Republican billionaire to the White House has Ukraine and its allies fearing a reduction in crucial American military aid, and pressure for compromises favorable to Russia during possible peace talks.
It is very important that these signals are sent to the United States, that the new administration also hears them, that we are all united in our desire for a just peace in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
For his part, Donald Tusk assured that his country “will ensure” that possible peace negotiations do not end in “unjust decisions” for Ukraine.
“We will be very vigilant and participate in all possible talks,” the Polish prime minister said. “There is no reason for Ukraine to give in” to Moscow in the event of such talks, he assured.
“Ukraine is under attack. It is Moscow that must reconsider [ses actions] “, underlined the Prime Minister, adding that “the only way” to achieve this objective is to “cooperate and support Ukraine fully and in solidarity, before any negotiations”.
The Ukrainian army is in a very difficult situation facing Russian troops who, more numerous and better armed, have been advancing on the Eastern Front in recent months.
Moscow has also launched an “intense” counter-offensive, with the participation of North Korean troops, in its Kursk region, partially occupied by Ukrainian forces, Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrsky said on Tuesday.
He assured that Ukrainian troops “firmly held” the lines, “destroying enemy personnel and equipment” and in particular inflicting “heavy losses” on North Korean troops.
According to a calculation by the British magazine The Economistthe Ukrainians have lost half of the territories they controlled in this area since the start of their surprise offensive in August.
The Russians and Ukrainians seem to want to do everything to strengthen their position on the battlefield before Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, the American president-designate having said he wants to work to stop “the carnage” as soon as he takes office.
