- The Russian leadership has postponed the deadline for the complete conquest of Donbas since the invasion fifteen times.
- Putin rejected the Ukrainian proposal to limit the attacks to only four disputed regions.
- Zelenskyy claims that Russia has rejected all Ukrainian peace proposals every time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in his evening speech on Monday he stated that during more than four years of the war against Ukraine, the Russian leadership and command postponed the deadline for the complete conquest of Donbass in the east of Ukraine 15 times. Reuters reported on this on Tuesday night, writes TASR.
According to the agency, Zelenskyy listed 15 dates that he believed the Kremlin set – and later moved over the course of four years – for the conquest of four regions: Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts in the Donbass and Zaporozhye and Kherson Oblasts in the south and southeast of the country.
This comment by Zelensky, reminds Reuters, is a reaction to how Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Kiev’s latest proposal for both sides to abandon attacks deep into the enemy’s interior and limit fighting to four areas of Ukraine claimed by Moscow.
Zelenskyy pointed out that the Russian leadership is “obsessed with Donbass” and set March 31st, then September 1st, and now December 31st as the deadline for its conquest this year. If Russia does not end the war, then this deadline will also have to be postponed, the Ukrainian president reminded.
“If Putin wants to send another million of his soldiers to their deaths to continue trying in vain to break through this (Ukrainian) defense, then the million Russians who have not yet been mobilized into the Russian army and are standing in line for gas should think about what awaits them. We have made all proposals to end this war and Russia has rejected them every time,” Zelensky declared.
He also said that the Russian side on Monday “clearly sounded the will to continue the war.” “Therefore, it is necessary to create as many obstacles as possible to deter Russia from continuing the war,” concluded the Ukrainian president.
According to Reuters, he was probably alluding to the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with propagandist Pavel Zarubin. In it, Putin stated that Ukraine presented a new peace proposal. According to him, he expects that both sides will stop attacking deep in the interior of the enemy. The Kremlin rejected this proposal.
In a televised interview on Sunday, Putin said that Russian troops will continue to fight and that the goal is to capture four Ukrainian regions. He called the new Ukrainian proposal to limit the fighting a trick aimed at easing the pressure on the Kyiv army. At the same time, Putin acknowledged that the Russians are currently suffering from a lack of fuel.
Zelensky, who wrote an open letter to Putin in June inviting him for a personal meeting, did not comment on Putin’s statements. However, he stated that the lack of fuel in the state, which is one of the major oil producers, is a direct consequence of the war, “one of (its) many consequences. It’s also an example of how Ukraine responds — precisely, not with terrorism,” referring to the Ukrainian military’s targeted attacks on oil refineries in Russia.
