“Russia threatens Ukraine to blackmail the West,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview for the Italian “La Repubblica” that was posted on the President’s website on Dec.14.
“What are Russian troops gathered near our border used for?” he asked. Are these saber-rattling Kremlin forces seeking to blackmail western states and, or expand Russian aggression against Ukraine and other nations in the region?
“Russia started this war in 2014,” Zelensky continued, stressing that Ukraine has a legal right to defend its people and its land. He lamented the fact that Germany has recently blocked defensive support to Ukraine which he believes his country is entitled to. He intimated that allies should not live in fear of supporting Ukraine because of pressure from Russia.
“We will defend our land and our people under all circumstances and from any encroachments. Ukrainians will never give up their freedom,“
said Zelensky.
The President informed readers that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014 forced one and a half million Ukrainians from their homes and resulted in the deaths of 14,000 people. He expressed his fear that a further invasion of Ukraine would lead to millions more disrupted lives and the deaths of many more Ukrainians and Russians.
Ukraine wants peace according to the President, but Russia won't even acknowledge its own role in launching an invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and this makes constructive dialogue very difficult.
With reference to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, President Zelensky said that Ukraine had given up the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world to Russia in return for a guarantee of security from Russia and other countries. However, Russia broke that promise by invading Ukraine.
Moving to events of today, President Zelensky pointed out that there is no evidence of de-escalation of Kremlin forces within or near the border of Ukraine. He added that despite President Biden's deliberations with President Putin, Russian forces have blocked 70% of the waters in the Azov Sea.
In short. the President says that talk is cheap and Ukraine is waiting for signs of Russian de-escalation before believing promises and words from Russia, as promises so often broken before have left Ukraine occupied and vulnerable.
Commenting that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a destabilising project for Ukraine and the region, the President expressed his belief that its becoming operational would end Russian gas transport through Ukraine and collapse European security.
“Christmas is ahead - and so now is the time to try as much as possible to agree on a ceasefire, the release of prisoners and the creation of conditions for the safe movement of people” concluded President Zelensky.
Source. Presidential website
