Russia is preparing for a spring offensive against the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. This offensive was supposed to take place eight months ago, but Ukraine thwarted it thanks to the Kursk operation.
This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Zelensky, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is stalling and preparing for an offensive while international efforts to achieve a complete ceasefire continue.
"We see preparations for this upcoming operation. We have shared intelligence with our allies," Zelensky stressed.
The president emphasizes that during the talks in Saudi Arabia, the Ukrainian delegation accepted the proposal for a complete ceasefire, but the Russians did not. Zelensky believes that this is a signal that Putin does not really want peace and is only stalling for time.
"Today, there are enough examples to understand that Putin does not want to stop the war until Ukraine accepts all his conditions and loses its independence," the president stressed. He hopes that the US President Donald Trump will soon understand this as well.
Zelensky is convinced that Trump wants to create good diplomatic relations with Russia, but this method does not work with a person like Putin. Ukraine will not give up its occupied territories, but Zelensky notes that some of them may have to be returned through diplomatic channels. But this should be strong diplomacy — with security guarantees from partners.
These are also financial guarantees — Ukraine wants Russiaʼs frozen assets in Europe to be used to equip the Ukrainian army. Because a strong Ukrainian army is the best guarantee of security, Zelensky believes. It could also be a peacekeeping contingent of allies, but there are still many issues that need to be resolved before other countries send their military to Ukraine.
- On the evening of March 19, at a briefing, Zelensky said that Russia plans to completely push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk direction, and then strike in the Sumy direction and move troops to Kharkiv, as well as Zaporizhzhia. However, at present, Ukraine does not see such opportunities in the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia directions. The enemy is currently accumulating troops in the Sumy direction.
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