Four years after the invasion of , the Kremlin spokesman said that the goals of the war have not yet been completed and so the so-called “special military operation” will continue until they are achieved.
At the same time, Peskov commented on the statements of the president of Ukraine, who argued that Russia has not achieved its goals in the war, arguing among other things that several of Moscow’s goals have been implemented, but according to him, Russia’s primary goal is to ensure the safety of the residents of eastern Ukraine.
What Zelensky mentioned
Volodymyr Zelensky earlier released an 18-minute video message marking four years since the invasion, in which he called on Donald Trump to visit Kiev, while making clear that Ukraine would not betray its people in any negotiations with Russia.
According to the Ukrainian president, Putin did not achieve the initial goals of the war, nor did he “break the Ukrainian people.” As he said: “He has not won this war. We have kept Ukraine and will do everything to achieve peace. And to ensure justice.”
The 18-minute speech included footage released for the first time from the underground bunker on Bankova Street in Kiev, where Zelensky and his advisers worked and slept in the early hours after Russia’s 2022 attack.
Zelensky recalled a phone call from Joe Biden, who had offered to help him leave the country “urgently.” “I told him that I need ammunition, not transport,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky invited Trump to Kyiv
The video shows him laying roses at a memorial on Maidan Square in Kyiv, in memory of the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who have lost their lives in the past four years. At this point he states: “I really want one day to come here with the president of the United States. I know for sure that only by coming to Ukraine, seeing with one’s own eyes our life and struggle, feeling our people and the magnitude of this suffering – only then can one understand what this war is really about.”
A visit to Ukraine, he argued, might help Trump determine “who is the aggressor here and who needs to be pressured.” He continued: “This is not a fight in the street – this is an attack by a sick state against a sovereign. Putin is the cause of its initiation and the obstacle to its termination. And it is Russia that must step into its place. So that there will be real peace.”
At the same time, Zelensky welcomed a group of European leaders and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Kiev.
Present were the prime ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia and Latvia, the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, while the British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper was also present.
