In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that Ukrainians will not cede any territory to Russia to end the war, saying, “This is our land.”
This is in sharp contrast to comments he made in March, wherein Zelensky mentioned that Ukraine had given up on forcefully retaking Russia-occupied regions in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, saying that such a campaign could very well lead to a Third World War. Moreover, the Ukrainian president at the time seemed amenable to a compromise with Russia over Donetsk and Luhansk, which he described as “temporarily occupied territories and pseudo-republics not recognised by anyone but Russia.” He recognised, however, that there are people in those two regions who consider themselves to be Russian citizens and to this end said he is interested in hearing their “opinion.”
Earlier today I interviewed Ukrainian President Zelensky. It was a lengthy and exclusive interview. He was in Kyiv and I’m in Washington. The Ukrainian President’s Press Office sent me this picture. The interview will air today during the 5PM ET & 6PM ET hours of the @CNNSitRoom pic.twitter.com/yJrOo7q2ZQ
— Wolf Blitzer (@wolfblitzer) July 7, 2022
With the Ukraine war entering its fifth month, Zelensky admitted in his most recent interview that Moscow now controls “almost all the Luhansk region,” since Ukrainian forces were forced to withdraw to avoid mass casualties. He claimed that the forces are now “fighting on the outskirts of this region.” On Wednesday, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko called for the evacuation of all 350,000 citizens in his province after Russian forces increased their offensive in eastern Ukraine following the capture of Ukraine’s last stronghold in the Luhansk region, Lysychansk, on Sunday.
This comes against the backdrop of Russian President Vladimir Putin holding a meeting with State Duma leaders and party leaders on Thursday, wherein he commended how the government acted “decisively, as a team and quickly” despite political differences, since Ukraine’s “special military operation” began in February.
He also pointed out that the government “managed to preserve macroeconomic stability, which is crucial for the economy” and therefore, the impact of the Western sanctions was “minimised.” “We see that these illegal measures against Russia are clearly creating difficulties for us, but not as great as the initiators of this economic blitzkrieg against Russia were counting on,” he stated, adding that the “goal was to sow discord and confusion in our society and to demoralise people.”
There is no "collective West" plan. Only a specific z-army which entered sovereign 🇺🇦 , shelling cities and killing civilians. Everything else is a primitive propaganda. That’s why Mr.Putin's mantra of the "war to the last Ukrainian" is yet another proof of deliberate 🇷🇺 genocide
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) July 7, 2022
Putin remarked upon the West’s “extremely aggressive” attitude towards Russia for decades, highlighting that Western countries rejected Russia’s proposals to “create a system of equal security in Europe” and also vetoed offers for cooperation on missile defence. Putin said that the West, led by the United States (US), was repeatedly warned against expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), “especially at the expense of the former republics of the Soviet Union.” In fact, he noted that some members found the idea of Russia joining NATO “absurd,” just because NATO does not “need a country like Russia.”
To this end, Putin once again balmed the West for “unleashing” the Ukraine war and held them responsible for the “unconstitutional” armed coup in Kyiv in 2014, which he said “encouraged and justified genocide against the people of Donbas.” “The collective West is the direct instigator and the culprit of what is happening today,” he asserted.
🇷🇺President #Putin: «The collective West led by the #US has been extremely aggressive towards #Russia for decades. Why? Just because they do not need a country like Russia. We have heard a lot about the West wanting to fight us 'to the last Ukrainian'»
— Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka (@RusEmbSriLanka) July 8, 2022
🔗https://t.co/HXNLOZXOUk pic.twitter.com/W5B4MEyxKQ
Additionally, the Russian President observed that the West should have “realised that they would lose from the very beginning” because the ongoing military aggression “also means the beginning of a radical breakdown of the US-style world order.”
“This is the beginning of the transition from liberal-globalist American egocentrism to a truly multipolar world based not on self-serving rules made up by someone for their own needs, behind which there is nothing but striving for hegemony, not on hypocritical double standards, but on international law and the genuine sovereignty of nations and civilisations, […] and to align cooperation on the basis of democracy, justice and equality,” Putin professed.
Putin says "We haven't even begun seriously [fighting] in Ukraine".
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) July 7, 2022
With up to 10 generals down and 30k+ soldiers killed, not sure this will go well at kitchen-table (or mess) conversations in Russia.
The Russian leader acknowledged that even among the US’ allies, whom he referred to as “satellites,” there is a “growing understanding” that “blind obedience to their overlord” is perhaps detrimental to their national interests. “The ruling classes of the Western countries […] realised that their policies are increasingly detached from reality, common sense and the truth, and they have started resorting to openly despotic methods,” he stressed, further accusing the West of trying to impose a “model of totalitarian liberalism, including the notorious cancel culture of widespread bans.”
President Putin on the special military operation:
— RusEmbassy_Pakistan (@RusEmbPakistan) July 8, 2022
This is the beginning of the transition from liberal-globalist American egocentrism to a truly multipolar world.We have many supporters, including in the US and Europe, and even more so on other continents and in other countries. pic.twitter.com/dcLjP0in4B
Additionally, the Russian leader responded to claims of Western countries wanting to defeat Russia by saying, “Well, what can I say? Let them try. We have already heard a lot about the West wanting to fight us “to the last Ukrainian.” Calling it a “tragedy” for Ukraine, Putin declared that Russia has “not started anything in earnest yet,” in reference to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
However, Putin admitted that he remains open to peace talks with Ukraine, warning, “Those who are rejecting them should know that the longer it goes on, the harder it will be for them to negotiate with us.”