Zelensky: "No Ceasefire Without Recovery of Territories Taken by Russia"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, strongly expressed his determination to continue fighting, stating, "If we enter a ceasefire without reclaiming the territories taken by Russia, it will only increase the likelihood of a prolonged war."

On the 22nd (local time), President Zelensky met with reporters from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) at the Presidential Office in Kyiv, Ukraine, and said, "A ceasefire would give Russia time to reorganize and reinforce its troops."

He added, "The Ukrainian people believe that negotiations should only take place after reclaiming the territory first," and "The sooner we regain the territory, the fewer casualties there will be."

President Zelensky also refuted Russian President Putin's claim that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine was virtually reached in late March at the early stage of the war but was broken off by Ukraine, calling it "complete nonsense."

He said, "Before the Russian invasion, we tried to find a diplomatic solution by any means, but President Putin refused to even speak with me for three years," and questioned, "Who would come to the negotiating table after killing people and destroying cities?"

President Zelensky also emphasized that the war situation is not as bad as perceived. He particularly noted that the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), supported by the United States, has helped block Russian attacks in the eastern Donbas region. He further claimed that the number of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine since the war began is likely higher than the number of their own soldiers killed.

He explained that as Ukraine has caught up with Russia in firepower, the number of casualties has significantly decreased, saying, "During the intense fighting in May and June, our daily military deaths were between 100 and 200, but now about 30 soldiers are losing their lives each day."

He added that once the Donbas front stabilizes, they are considering deploying Ukrainian forces to other regions to begin full-scale territorial recovery operations.

While expressing gratitude to Western countries assisting Ukraine amid rising energy and food prices and worsening economic difficulties as the war approaches five months, President Zelensky appealed for more military support, such as air defense systems.

He said, "Once air defense systems are in place, areas far from the front lines will be safe from Russian missile attacks," and added, "The United States and Germany have promised to build air defense systems, but this has not yet been realized."

Meanwhile, President Zelensky's remarks somewhat align with the opinions of the Ukrainian people. According to a WSJ survey conducted in early last month of 1,005 Ukrainian adults, 89% of respondents opposed the idea of ceding their territory to Russia and entering a ceasefire.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.