Ukraine is not losing the war, and the outcome of this war is still uncertain, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in an exclusive interview with AFP on Friday – shortly before the fourth anniversary of the Russian military invasion, writes TASR. “You can’t say we’re losing the war. Frankly, we’re definitely not losing it, definitely. The question is whether we’re going to win it. Yes, that’s a question — but it’s a very expensive question.” said Zelenskyi.
According to him, Russia pushed for Ukraine to hastily hold presidential elections because Moscow wants to remove him from power. “Let’s be honest – the Russians just want to replace me,” said Zelensky in an interview at the presidential palace in Kyiv. “No one wants an election during war. Everyone fears its destructive effect.” he noted, adding that he has not yet decided whether he will run for office in the future.
According to Zelensky, Ukrainian forces recently liberated hundreds of square kilometers of their territory from Russian troops along the southern front line, AFP quotes. “I won’t go into too much detail… But today I can first of all congratulate our military – all the defense forces – because 300 square kilometers have been liberated to date,” said the Ukrainian president.
According to him, both Washington and Moscow are putting pressure on Kiev to give up its eastern Donbas region to the Kremlin in the event of any agreement to end the four-year war. “The Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, leave Donbas,” Zelenskyy said in connection with this an area rich in mineral resources that Russia claims.
Ukraine still controls about a fifth of the Donetsk region, while Russia has taken essentially all of the Luhansk region. Both of these areas are collectively referred to as Donbas, reminds AFP. Zelenskyy went on to say in the interview that the level of intelligence Ukraine receives from the United States has not decreased – despite Washington cutting other forms of military and financial support to Kyiv under President Donald Trump.
“We’re certainly getting intelligence from France and other European countries that we ask for, and we’re getting the same level of intelligence from the Americans as we always have.” said Zelensky. “The Americans always gave us a lot of information, but not all the information that our Ukrainian armed forces wanted,” he added. At the same time, Zelenskyy declared that he wants foreign troops to be deployed in Ukraine in the event of a cease-fire to be located near the front line.
