Washington: Ali Barada – Kiev. Moscow: «Middle East»
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky headed yesterday (Tuesday) to an area close to the battlefront at Bakhmut, the main battlefield in the country’s east where the Ukrainian army has resisted a Russian attack for months.
Zelinsky was only 45 kilometers from Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying to control since the summer with the massive destruction that accompanied it, but have so far been unsuccessful.
Zelenskyj appeared in 3 video clips portraying him in the Donbass region, which Moscow announced it annexed last September without having full control over it. “Eastern Ukraine is the most difficult axis (on the front),” Zelensky said, addressing military personnel on Armed Forces Day, adding, “Thank you for your steadfastness.”
Later, some soldiers were awarded medals. In another video clip in front of the entrance to the city of Sloviansk, the Ukrainian president greeted “all those who sacrificed their lives for Ukraine”.
In a related context, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Russia could seek a truce in Ukraine without negotiating a permanent peace deal, considering the war will end through diplomacy and negotiation. Blinken said the conflict in Ukraine would “almost certainly” be concluded through diplomacy and negotiations, adding that a “just and lasting peace” was needed, but the Kremlin presented a different view on ending the war. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “agrees with the need for the result to be a just and lasting peace, as we currently see none of the opportunities to engage in negotiations of any kind.”
He added that Russia should achieve the goals of its “special military operation” in Ukraine before holding talks with potential partners.
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