Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks through the briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned he hopes the US will apply “most further sanctions” on Russia if it refuses to just accept a 30-day ceasefire and described Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “bravado” response as a stalling tactic.
“The Russians say, for instance, ‘We assist a ceasefire, however …’ After which after the ‘however,’ they begin coming with varied particulars to delay the method,” Zelenskyy mentioned Friday in a gathering with Ukrainian and worldwide information media, together with NPR.
Zelenskyy’s feedback capped per week of intense dialogue about how one can cease Russia’s battle on Ukraine. The Trump administration has held separate conferences with Ukrainian and Russian officers this week. On Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to enact a 30-day ceasefire, however to date Russia has needed to set additional situations earlier than reaching a short-term truce.
If Russia agrees to a short-term ceasefire, Zelenskyy mentioned it might be attainable to watch violations utilizing satellite tv for pc knowledge, joint intelligence with Ukraine’s allies and reconnaissance drones. “Air protection protections have to be 100%,” he mentioned, if there is a danger of a renewed Russian invasion.
After a ceasefire, Zelenskyy mentioned probably the most troublesome concern is coping with Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. Zelenskyy mentioned this got here up in talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, between Ukraine’s workforce and the Trump administration representatives, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz.
“Our companions know our crimson traces, that we don’t acknowledge the occupied territories as territories of Russia, and we’ll by no means acknowledge them,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
Talking within the Oval Workplace on Thursday, Trump introduced up “a really massive energy plant” when speaking about attainable territorial concessions, seemingly a reference to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Energy Plant within the Ukrainian metropolis of Enerhodar. This nuclear energy plant, which isn’t producing electrical energy proper now, is the biggest in Europe and has been below Russian occupation since 2022.
“You may’t simply say, right here is the plant and the town is separate,” he mentioned.
Zelenskyy additionally spoke about Kursk, the area in western Russia that Ukraine occupied final summer time in a shock incursion that embarrassed the Kremlin. Since November, with the assistance of North Korean troops, Russia has pushed the Ukrainians out of most of space.
Putin claimed on Thursday that his troops had cornered Ukrainian troopers in Kursk. Trump appeared to echo that in a social media put up, saying “THOUSANDS OF UKRAINIAN TROOPS ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY THE RUSSIAN MILITARY” and calling on Putin to spare their lives. Talking earlier than Russia’s Safety Council on Friday, Putin mentioned if the Ukrainian forces “lay down their arms and give up, they are going to be assured life and first rate remedy.”
On Friday, Ukraine’s navy denied that its troops had been encircled and mentioned Russia had claimed this “for political functions and to place stress on Ukraine and its companions.”
Zelenskyy acknowledged that the scenario for Ukrainian troops in Kursk “is clearly very troublesome” however that they’d completed their most important goal: diverting Russian troops from the beleaguered japanese metropolis of Pokrovsk, which has been below assault for months.
NPR Producer Hanna Palamarenko contributed from Kyiv.
