Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again stated that there will be no ceasefire negotiations unless Russian troops withdraw from Ukrainian territory. He also called on Beijing not to provide weapons to Russia.
Zelensky made the above statement in an interview with Asian media at the Presidential Office Building in Kiev on November 28.
Ukrainian officials arranged interviews with media from seven Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. During the more than one-hour visit, Zelensky answered questions about Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations, frontline stalemate, Beijing’s role, North Korea’s supply of weapons to Russia, and the Israel-Kazakhstan conflict.
The Russo-Ukrainian war lasted for 21 months, and the frontline fighting reached a stalemate. Rumors abounded that the United States and Europe were suffering from “war fatigue” and were wavering in their determination to aid Ukraine and resist Russia. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) quoted sources on November 3 as saying that U.S. and European officials have discussed with the Ukrainian government how to negotiate with Russia to end the war. The talks covered what Ukraine might have to give up in order to reach an agreement.
When answering a question from the media under what circumstances he was willing to initiate ceasefire negotiations, Zelensky said that as long as the Russian army does not withdraw from Ukrainian territory, “the ceasefire is meaningless.” He pointed out that the Minsk Agreement was signed with Russia as an example. Any agreement can only freeze conflicts.
In international relations, a frozen conflict means that although the warring parties have stopped armed, there is no peace treaty or other political agreement, so the conflict may restart at any time, similar to the long-term standoff between South Korea and North Korea on the Korean Peninsula. Russia and Ukraine signed the “Minsk Agreement” and the “New Minsk Agreement” ceasefire and peace plans in 2014 and 2015 respectively, but many key issues remain unresolved, and tensions in Ukraine and East China have never eased.
Zelensky stated in the interview that Ukraine will never give up an inch of territory, and that ceasefire or freezing the conflict are not current options. He also pointed out that Russia will definitely return to its old ways and its desire to expand territory will not be satisfied until it re-establishes a sphere of influence in the region. He criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for having a pathological goal – to return everything to the days of the former Soviet Union.
Zelensky said excitedly: “This man from Russia (referring to Putin) is greedy and always hungry. He is not young anymore, but he can’t calm down, often violent, and very ambitious. I think he has a problem with his mind and refuses to Put down Ukraine.”
Zelensky is actively promoting talks on his ten-point peace plan for Ukraine, which includes restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, withdrawing Russian troops, ensuring food and energy supplies, nuclear security and releasing prisoners.
Asked how confident he was that Russia would fully withdraw from Ukrainian territory, Zelensky said Ukraine was fighting for peace because it did not believe Russia wanted peace. Since the war is taking place on Ukrainian soil, the way to achieve peace should be proposed by Ukraine. “Why should someone tell us how to end the war?”
Zelensky judged that after leaders of various countries meet on the ten-point peace plan in February next year, it will take another six months to draw up a document supported by all parties. The last Ukraine peace conference was held in Malta at the end of October. Neither China nor Russia attended, but China previously attended the peace conference in Saudi Arabia in August.
Call on China to firmly participate in peace plan talks
As for what kind of anti-Russian support Ukraine hopes China will provide, Zelensky said that he very much hopes that China can participate “more firmly” in the ten-point peace plan talks. He also believes that China can exert a strong influence on Russia on the issue of respecting territorial integrity.
Zelensky said: “Territorial integrity and sovereignty are not a problem for China, but axioms. So I very much hope that China will work in this direction and support Ukraine. I think China has a great influence on Russia.”
Zelensky also pointed out that he does not want China to provide any form of military assistance to Russia, including technology owned by China. He believes that Russia will be isolated once it loses the support of China and the entire Asian and Arab world, forcing Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
British media previously reported that after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, China provided Russia with a large amount of key raw materials that could be used to produce weapons and equipment. However, officials from Western countries said that there is no evidence that China provides weapons to Russia, and it is certain that it is North Korea that provides weapons to Russia.
Speaking of North Korea, Zelensky said that the weapons North Korea supplies to Russia on a large scale were mainly produced during the Soviet period, including artillery shells and Gullah-type multiple rocket launch systems. This also shows that Russia itself cannot produce enough ammunition to fight a war.
For this reason, Zelensky said that Ukraine cannot negotiate a ceasefire with Russia, otherwise it would be like opening a window for Russia to improve its combat capabilities and assemble millions of artillery shells to attack Ukraine.
As for the Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict that has lasted for nearly two months, Zelensky expressed his support for the two-state solution and believed that this is the only feasible principle. He pointed out that Russia and Iran were behind the conflict between Israel and Kazakhstan, and said that Russia had achieved its goal, which was to divert attention from Ukraine to the situation in the Middle East and make the world forget about Ukraine.
(Video provided by Ukrainian Public Interest Journalism Laboratory (PIJL))
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2023-11-30 08:00:00