Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of discussing a cease-fire with Russia or making him the slightest “concession” on Thursday, after Moscow Intime to the West to negotiate under penalty of “destruction of the Ukrainian population “.
Vladimir Putin said he was “ready to regain contact” with Donald Trump after the Republican victory in the American presidential election, when the billionaire had assured during the campaign to end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours” .
“We cannot just say +(a ceasefire now) and then we will see +. It is not viable. And the worst is that it is irresponsible,” said Mr. Zelensky During a press conference on the sidelines of a summit of the European political community in Budapest, evoking a “very dangerous rhetoric”.
| © AFP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Political Community (EPC) Summit on November 7, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary |
The Ukrainian President had assured earlier Thursday than making “Putin concessions” was “unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe”, partly taking a speech made earlier.
Calls for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are more insistent after more than two and a half years of a devastating war, including some Kiev allies.
The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, the best disputed European leader towards Mr. Putin, repeated his call to a truce on the battlefield on Thursday, to “give the belligerent parts the space and the time necessary to communicate and start to negotiate peace “.
North Korean “losses”
Volodymyr Zelensky went to Hungary for this meeting with European leaders at a difficult time for Ukraine, who has been back on the front for months against a better armed and more numerous opponent.
| © AFP Ukraine: positions of military forces |
He assured for the first time that the North Korean soldiers accused by kyiv and the Westerners of being deployed in Russia to support the forces of Moscow “took part in hostilities” and suffered “losses”.
According to him, 11,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed in the Russian region of Koursk, whose Ukrainian forces have occupied a small part since a surprise offensive launched in early August.
North Korea “now book war in Europe”, he deplored, adding: “North Korean soldiers are trying to kill our people on European soil”.
Donald Trump’s election to the American presidency threw a cold in kyiv, who fears a disengagement from his main provider of arms and funding in the coming months.
“I spoke to President Trump (…), it was a productive conversation but, of course, we cannot say what specific actions he will take,” noted the Ukrainian head of state.
He called on Americans and Europeans to be “strong” and to “enhance” their relations. “What is clear to me is that he (Trump) really wants to end (in war),” he said.
“Destruction of the population”
On the ground, a series of Russian strikes left four people dead and 33 injured in the city of Zaporijjia, in the south of Ukraine. Planning bombs have affected a hospital and residential buildings, according to local authorities.
These strikes took place a few hours after the head of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Choigou, pressed the Western allies of kyiv to start negotiations with Moscow if they want to end the attacks on the Ukrainians.
| | © 24th Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces/AFP Ukrainian servicemen of the 24th mechanized brigade improve their tactical skills at a training ground in the Donetsk region, November 6, 2024 |
“The situation in the theater of hostilities is not in favor of the kyiv regime, the West has a choice: continue its financing (of Ukraine) and the destruction of the Ukrainian population or admit the existing realities and begin to negotiate,” he said during a meeting.
With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the ball is in the American court, the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, said on Thursday.
“We will see if there are any proposals” from the new American administration, he declared.
Series of attacks
With the apparent desire to break the morale of the population, Russia almost quasil Ukraine.
On Thursday, a strike on the village of Mykolaïvka caused the death of two people and made five injured, according to the governor of the eastern region of Donetsk, Vadym Filachkin.
| | © AFP Ukrainian firefighters put out a fire in a building after a Russian drone attack in kyiv, November 7, 2024 |
The capital kyiv was targeted by drone raids on almost all of the first week of November, the military administration said.
During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, debris of such devices fell on six kyiv districts, making two light injuries, according to this source.
Russia notably claims that Ukraine gives it five regions of the country and that it renounces its ambition to join NATO. Unacceptable conditions for Mr. Zelensky, who insists on the pure and simple withdrawal of the Russian troops of all of the occupied territories.
