Ukraine has stopped Russia’s military advance and will not sign a peace deal that would allow Russian troops to remain in the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
Zelenskyy, speaking remotely to the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit in London, said that in some areas his troops are pushing forward and in others they are holding firm while awaiting military equipment needed to press ahead.
“We are gaining ground and we are pushing away the Russian army,” he said. “Therefore, not a single step back.”
The Ukrainian leader said he wants to drive Russian forces back to their positions before the Feb. 24 invasion and then wants to use peace talks to regain control over the Crimean Peninsula that Russia seized in 2014. Zelenskyy insisted that “we will not accept a frozen conflict” that may allow Russian forces to stay in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Zelenskyy warned executives at the summit that Russia can’t be trusted by businesses since it can’t be trusted by other countries.
“It seems to you that you have a business with Russia … a profitable business,” he said. “But one day you wake up to find a rocket is flying toward you from Russia, and everything changes. It’s not possible to do business with someone who tomorrow, instead of payment, will simply send rockets toward you.”
Comments