KYIV, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine wants peace but will not just give in to Russia at any price, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday in a defiant speech marking Independence Day celebrations.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and European Council President Antonio Costa were among foreign leaders and dignitaries who arrived in Kyiv for events on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s break from the Soviet Union.
Burnham was scheduled to co-chair a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” – a group of countries backing Ukraine – later on Monday during his first visit to the Ukrainian capital as prime minister.
“Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it’s not ready to simply surrender,” Zelenskiy said in a video posted on Telegram showing him standing in a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt in the square in front of the golden-domed St Michael’s monastery in Kyiv where burned-out Russian tanks are on show.
He said Russia’s demand – repeatedly rejected by Ukraine – that Kyiv cede the remaining part of the eastern Donbas area that is not in Russian hands after 4-1/2 years of war would not be enough to stop Russian aggression.
“We will not let them (Russians) seize the initiative, deceive Europe and the entire world into thinking that we simply need to give up Donbas and everything will be over soon,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and swathes of Ukrainian territory have been laid waste, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
U.S.-led peace talks to bring a lasting end to the war stalled earlier this year as Ukraine refused Russia’s demands to cede more territory, and fighting rages along a 750-mile (1,200-km) frontline.
TRIBUTE TO UKRAINIAN PEOPLE
Russia’s advances on the battlefield have slowed this year and Ukraine has recaptured some land in the southeast. However, Moscow’s forces are threatening the strategic eastern city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern region of Donetsk – which forms part of Donbas, together with the Luhansk region.
Exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, Russia has also stepped up its campaign of air strikes at cities far from the front line this summer.
Ukraine has also increased its long-range attacks on Russian refineries and logistics infrastructure, aimed at undermining Moscow’s war effort.
Paying tribute to the people and soldiers defending Ukraine in the war, Zelenskiy also called on allies to give it “everything” needed to stop the war.
Urging them to bring Russia to the negotiating table and hit it with more sanctions, Zelenskiy said he hoped that “all the contradictions and fears” the United States has regarding Russia will disappear.
“China must no longer remain silent,” he added.
Other dignitaries present for the celebrations included Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Moldova’s President Maia Sandu and Estonia’s President Alar Karis, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, posting photos of the officials arriving at the Kyiv station.
(Reporting by Daniel Flynn in Kyiv and Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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