He made the remarks in an interview with the Associated Press a day after at least 52 people were killed in an attack on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. Kyiv. “No one wants to negotiate with an individual or with people who have tortured this nation. It’s all understandable. “And as a man, as a father, I understand that very well,” said Zelenskyy. But “we do not want to miss opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution.” Wearing the olive wool that marked his transformation into a wartime leader, he looked visibly exhausted but inspired by the desire to persevere. He spoke to the AP inside the presidential office complex, where windows and corridors are guarded by towers with sandbags and heavily armed soldiers. “We have to fight, but we have to fight for life. You can not fight for dust when there is nothing and there are no people. “That’s why it’s important to stop this war.” Russian troops withdrawing from northern Ukraine are now regrouping for an intensive push to retake the eastern Donbass region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol, which Ukrainian fighters are trying to defend. The president said that these defenders were capturing “a large part of the enemy forces”, describing the battle to keep Mariupol as “the heart of the war” at the moment. “It’s knocking. we fight. We are strong. “And if it stops hitting, we will be in a weaker position,” he said. Zelensky said he was convinced the Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horror they had seen in the more than six-week war. These included gruesome images of civilian corpses found in courtyards, parks and city squares and buried in mass graves in Kiev’s Bucha suburb after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Ukrainian and Western leaders have blamed Moscow for war crimes. Russia falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged. He also blamed Ukraine for the attack on the Kramatorsk train station, as thousands of people rushed to flee in the face of an impending Russian attack. Despite hopes for peace, Zelensky acknowledged that he needed to be “realistic” about the prospects for a speedy settlement, as negotiations have so far been limited to low-level talks that do not include Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky showed a tangible sense of resignation and frustration when asked if his country’s arms and other equipment supplies from the United States and other Western nations were enough to turn the tide of the war. “Not yet,” he said, switching to English for emphasis. “Of course it is not enough.” However, he noted that there was growing support from Europe and said US arms deliveries had accelerated. Just this week, neighboring Slovakia, a member of the European Union, donated the Soviet-era S-300 air defense system to Ukraine in response to Zelenskyy’s call for help to “close the skies” on Russian warplanes and missiles. Part of this support came from visits by European leaders. Following a meeting with Zelensky in Kyiv earlier on Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Carl Nehamer said he expected more EU sanctions against Russia, despite defending his country’s opposition to cutting off Russian gas supplies. The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom have responded to the Bucharest images with more sanctions, including those targeting Putin’s adult daughters. While the EU has chased Russia’s energy sector for the first time with a coal ban, it has so far failed to agree on cutting off the much more lucrative oil and gas financing of Putin’s war chest. Europe relies on these supplies to generate electricity, fill fuel tanks and keep the industry afloat. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson also paid an unannounced visit to meet with Zelensky, with his office saying they discussed “long-term support” for Britain. In Kyiv on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the Ukrainian leader with a questionnaire marking the first step in applying for EU membership. It can take weeks – an unusually fast reversal – although securing membership will take much longer. Zelensky became introverted when asked what impact the pace of arms deliveries had on his people and whether more lives could have been saved if help had come earlier. “Very often we look for answers in someone else, but I often look for answers in myself. “Did we do enough to get them?” said about the weapons. “Have we done enough to make these leaders believe in us? Have we done enough? “ He paused and shook his head. “Are we the best for this place and this time? Who knows? I do not know. “You are questioning yourself,” he said.
AP photographer Evgeniy Maloletka contributed to this story.
