Tag: Volodymyr Zelensky

Categories
-Top News Europe

Russia preparing society for possible use of nukes: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.(photo: https://www.instagram.com/zelenskiy_official/)

President Zelensky stressed that action against Russia threats was needed now, as it posed a “risk for the whole planet”, reports Asian Lite News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Russian officials have started “preparing the society” for the possible use of nuclear weapons, but also added that “they are not ready to do it”.

In an interview with the BBC at the President’s Office in Kiev, Zelensky said on Friday: “They begin to prepare their society. That’s very dangerous.

“They are not ready to do it, to use it. But they begin to communicate. They don’t know whether they’ll use or not use it. I think it’s dangerous to even speak about it.”

“What we see is that Russia’s people in power like life and thus I think the risk of using nuclear weapons is not that definite as some experts say, because they understand that there is no turning back after using it, not only the history of their country, but themselves as personalities.”

During the interview, the President also denied having called for strikes on Russia, claiming that an earlier remark had been “mistranslated”.

“After that translation, they (the Russians) did things their way, the way that’s useful to them, and began to retranslate it in other directions,” he told the BBC

“You must use preventive kicks,” Zelensky said, referring to sanctions, “not attacks”.

He further stressed that action against Russia threats was needed now, as it posed a “risk for the whole planet”.

Moscow, he claimed, had “made a step already” by occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear station which President Vladimir Putin is trying to turn into Russian property.

“The world can stop urgently the actions of Russian occupiers,” Zelensky told the BBC.

“The world can implement the sanction package in such cases and do everything to make them leave the nuclear power plant.”

Zelensky also said that Putin is not afraid of a possible nuclear strike but of his community, and his people.

“Because only those people are capable of replacing him now, to take away his power and give it to someone else,” he explained.

Asked whether Putin could survive in an eventual Ukrainian win in the war, the Ukrainian leader said: “I don’t care.”

ALSO READ: Key bridge linking Crimea to Russia hit by huge blast

Categories
-Top News Europe USA

Biden says Zelensky rejected US intel on Russian invasion

US President Joe Biden (Photo: Twitter@POTUS)

President Volodymyr Zelensky did not want to hear that Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine after inputs were collected by the US intelligence, US President Joe Biden said in a startling revelation.

“Nothing like this has happened since World War II. I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating. But I knew we had data to sustain he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) was going to go in, off the border,” President Biden was quoted as saying in reports at a Democratic fundraiser in Washington.

“There was no doubt,” Biden said. “And Zelensky didn’t want to hear it.”

Although President Zelensky has inspired people with his leadership during the war, his preparation for the invasion — or lack thereof — has remained a controversial issue, AP reported.

Ahead of the start of the invasion, which Russia still calls a “special military operation”, on February 24, the US-led West had repeatedly warned about the military build up near the Ukraine border.

The Western leaders have repeatedly urged Putin for a de-escalation in tensions. However, the Russian President launched a surprise offensive, triggering shock worldwide.

Earlier on Friday, Kyiv expressed concerns that the West may lost interest if the conflict lingers, “The fatigue is growing, people want some kind of outcome (that is beneficial) for themselves, and we want (another) outcome for ourselves,” Zelensky said.

Meanwhile, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the country is losing upto 200 troops a day while fighting on the front line with Russian forces.

According to the aide Mykhaylo Podolyak, hundreds of Ukrainian troops are under relentless bombardment as Russian forces attempt to take control of the whole of th eastern Donbas region, the BBC reported on Friday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: Instagram)

While reiterating that Ukraine still requires Western artillery, he said: “The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation.”

Podolyak added that the “complete lack of parity” between the two rival armies was the reason for Ukraine’s heavy casualty rate.

“Our demands for artillery are not just some kind of whim, but an objective need when it comes to the situation on the battlefield,” the BBC quoted the aide as saying, who went on to add that Kiev needs 150-300 rocket launch systems to match Russia, which is a much higher number than it has received so far.

He also stressed that peace talks between Kiev and Moscow can resume if Russia surrendered the territory it has gained since it launched the invasion on February 24.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have concentrated their assault on the eastern city of Severodonetsk.

On Wednesday, President Zelensky said “the fate of the Donbas is being decided there” and officials said it has been reduced to rubble by intense Russian artillery and missile barrages.

ALSO READ: Russia holds Baltic drill amid NATO exercises

Categories
-Top News Europe

Ukraine ready to resume talks on settling conflict with Russia

The reference to the situation as of February 23 suggests Ukraine may not insist on retaking Crimea before making peace with Russia, reports the BBC…reports Asian Lite News

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country stands ready to resume talks on settling the conflict with Russia after Moscow’s forces return to the positions they held before the invasion on February 24.

“They need to withdraw to those temporary contact lines or dividing lines, they must withdraw troops there. Then we can start the full-scale talks,” Xinhua news agency quoted Zelensky as saying while speaking to mediapersons.

“To stop the war between Russia and Ukraine the step should be regaining the situation as of 23 February,” he said, referring to the day before the war began.

“I was elected by the people of Ukraine as president of Ukraine, not as President of a mini Ukraine of some kind. This is a very important point.”

The reference to the situation as of February 23 suggests Ukraine may not insist on retaking Crimea before making peace with Russia, reports the BBC.

The peninsula was annexed by Russia eight years ago.

Calling for the resumption of diplomatic dialogue between Russia and Ukraine, the President said: “Despite the fact that they destroyed all our bridges, I think not all the bridges are yet destroyed, figuratively speaking.”

The Ukrainian and Russian delegations held their latest round of in-person peace negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey in late March.

ALSO READ-US intel helped Ukraine sink Moskva

Categories
-Top News Europe World

‘If Ukraine falls, Europe falls’

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the NATO leaders for failing to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine and termed it as a “green light” for further bombing of cities and villages, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

In a virtual address to thousands of protesters across major European cities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that if his country fell to Russia in the ongoing war, then the whole continent of Europe will fall.

On Friday night, protests against the ongoing Russian military assault on Ukraine took place in Vienna, Tbilisi, Prague, Frankfurt, Vilnius, Lyon and Bratislava.

In his address via video link, Zelensky said: “Don’t be silent. Go out onto the streets. Support Ukraine. Support our freedom. This would be a victory not only over Russian troops, it would be a victory of light over darkness. A victory of good over evil. A victory of freedom over what is happening now, here, on Ukrainian land.

“Don’t be silent, support Ukraine. Because if Ukraine falters, Europe will falter. If Ukraine falls, Europe will fall.

“And if we win – and I have faith in our people, I have faith in you – it would be a big victory for democracy, for our values, a victory for freedom.”

‘Greenlight to bombing’

Earlier on Friday in another video message reportedly from his office in Kiev, the President condemned the NATO leaders for failing to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, the BBC reported.

“Today the leadership of the alliance gave the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages, refusing to make a no-fly zone.”

“All the people who die, starting today, will also die because of you. Because of your weakness, because of your disconnection.

“The NATO summit took place today. A weak summit. A confused summit. A summit that shows that not everyone considers the fight for freedom for Europe the number one goal.

“All the intelligence agencies of the NATO countries are well aware of the enemy’s plans. They confirmed that Russia wants to continue the offensive.

“NATO has deliberately decided not to close the skies over Ukraine. NATO countries created a narrative that closing the skies over Ukraine would provoke Russia’s direct aggression against NATO.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

“This is the self-hypnosis of those who are weak, insecure inside, despite the fact they possess weapons many times stronger than we have,” the President added.

As the conflict in Ukraine entered the ninth day on Friday, Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to Zelensky, said that resistance by the Ukrainian armed forces as well as by the general public would “grind down the Russian war machine”.

“The Russian army is not strong. It’s just big,” the BBC quoted Arestovich as saying in a Facebook post.

“Our success is a pattern, with specifically built and clearly implemented cause-and-effect relationships… Eight-tenths of Putin’s army is here. This is where we will bury them,” he added.

Since Russia’s invasion began on February 24, Ukrainian forces have continued with a stiff resistance against Moscow’s advances.

However, Russian troops on Friday captured the the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, where a fire had erupted earlier in the day due to shelling.

The previous day, the port city of Kherson was also seized by Russian forces, becoming the first city to fall.

In the south, Russian forces captured areas along the Black Sea coast, and the port city of Mariupol remained surrounded.

In Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, has also remained under seige.

ALSO READ: UKRAINE: Cold War 2.0 Begins

Categories
-Top News Europe

400 Russian hitmen in Ukraine with order to kill Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.(Photo_Twitter@ZelenskyyUa)

The highly-trained operatives are said to be waiting for the green light from the Kremlin to pounce, with their hit list also including Ukraine’s prime minister…reports Asian Lite News

More than 400 Russian mercenaries have been flown in from Africa to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Daily Mail reported.

A private militia known as the Wagner Group allegedly has orders from Vladimir Putin to take out Zelensky – and 23 other government figures – to allow Moscow to take over its eastern European neighbour, the report said.

According to the Times, UK, the army-for-hire, run by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin – a close ally of the Russian president who is often dubbed ‘Putin’s chef’ – was flown in five weeks ago and is being offered a huge sum for the mission.

The highly-trained operatives are said to be waiting for the green light from the Kremlin to pounce, with their hit list also including Ukraine’s prime minister, the entire cabinet, mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir – both boxing champions who have become iconic figures on the front lines of the capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin.(Photo@KremlinRussia_ETwitter)

However, the plans were rumbled after they reached the upper echelons of the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning, the report said.

It prompted Kyiv to declare a 36-hour ‘hard’ curfew, ordering everyone indoors so that soldiers could sweep the streets for Russian saboteurs.

Citizens were warned that they risked being ‘liquidated’ if they were spotted outside during the curfew hours, as they may be assumed to be the enemy.

A source with knowledge of the Wagner Group’s activities told the Times that between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries had actually arrived in Ukraine in January, but with different missions.

Some were sent to the rebel-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of the country – while the 400 tasked with taking out Zelensky headed to Kyiv from Belarus.

The group are said to be tracking Zelesnky and his colleagues via their mobile phones – claiming to know where they are at all times, Daily Mail reported.

Another source claimed the killers-for-hire have been told to put on the brakes while Putin holds ‘peace talks’ with Zelensky this week.

But they have allegedly been informed that the Russian leader has no desire to reach a deal, branding the meeting on the Belarus border as ‘smoke and mirrors’, the report said.

News of their assassination plans has not seemed to faze Zelensky, who admitted he was ‘target number one’ during an address to the nation, telling them Russian special forces were hunting him.

ALSO READ: Russia propagates lies about Ukraine’s conduct: US envoy

Categories
-Top News Europe India News

Zelensky dials Modi, seeks India’s political support in UNSC

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Glasgow, Scotland on November 02, 2021. (PIB)

India had abstained from the UN Security Council voting saying that the path of the “diplomacy was given up”, reports Asian Lite News

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday over the current situation in his country and urged India for its political support in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against Russia which is continuing its military operations in Ukraine.

Taking to Twitter, Zelenskyy said, “Spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Informed of the course of Ukraine repulsing Russian aggression. More than 100,000 invaders are on our land. They insidiously fire on residential buildings. Urged India to give us political support in UN Security Council. Stop the aggressor together!”

Notably, Russia on Friday (local time) vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution on Ukraine, while India, China, and UAE abstained from the vote. The vote was 11 in favour, one against, and three abstentions. India abstained from voting saying that the path of the “diplomacy was given up”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday also urged Germany and Hungary to back Russia’s expulsion from the SWIFT banking system as Moscow continues its military operation in Ukraine.

“We have almost full support from EU countries about disconnecting Russia from SWIFT. I hope Germany and Hungary will have the courage to support this decision,” Zelenskyy said in a video address that was posted on his Telegram channel, Sputnik News Agency reported today.
Zelenskyy said also that Ukraine has a right to EU membership, and achieving this would be a key sign of support for the country.

“This is the decisive moment to close one and for all the multi-year strategic discussion, make a decision on Ukraine’s membership in the European Union. I discussed this with Charles Michele, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron,” Zelenskyy said, as per Sputnik.

However, as per reports, the decision of whether to cut Russia off from the SWIFT international financial network or not will be made within a few days.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities. Later, Putin ordered special military operations “to protect” the people in the Donbas region.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia’s military operations and imposed sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Russian cruise missiles hit Ukrainian military targets

Categories
-Top News Europe World

‘I am here’: Defiant President Zelensky in new video

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video to social media on Saturday morning showing himself walking around the streets of Kiev after a night of artillery fire in different parts of the city, telling the nation “I’m here”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video to social media on Saturday morning showing himself walking around the streets of Kiev after a night of artillery fire in different parts of the city, telling the nation “I’m here”, Fox News reported.

Zelenskyy said in a short video address to Ukrainians, “We will defend our country,” and said that there’s a lot of false information online.

“Do not believe in fake information,” Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media after the sun came up in Kiev on Saturday morning. “I am here. We will be defending our country, because our strength is in our truth.”

“We will be defending our country,” he added.

Zelenskyy’s post comes after loud explosions and intense gunfights broke out in Kiev overnight as Russian troops reportedly entered the capital, Fox News reported.

“A new day on the diplomatic frontline began with a conversation with @EmmanuelMacron,” Zelenskyy added in a Twitter post. “Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!”

Street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev overnight Friday as Russian troops closed in. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused an offer from the US to have him evacuated from the country, saying, ‘the fight is here.’

ALSO READ: Indians in Ukraine advised not to move to border posts

Categories
-Top News EU News World

‘This might be the last time you see me alive’: Zelensky tells allies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.(photo: twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa)

The Ukrainian presidential advisor earlier warned that Russia wants to kill Zelensky if it takes Ukraine’s capital, reports Asian Lite News

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky had an ominous warning for his European counterparts in a video conference call on Thursday night, Sky News reported.

According to a journalist at Israel’s Walla News, he told other leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive.”

The Ukrainian presidential advisor earlier warned that Russia wants to kill Zelensky if it takes Ukraine’s capital.

It’s believed Russia is planning to install a puppet government in Ukraine should it successfully capture Kiev, the report said.

:The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has published pictures of the border service facilities in the Kyiv region that were shot by Russian troops on Thursday Feb. 24, 2022 not long after Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine.(Photo:IANS/Twitter)

A squad of Chechen special forces ‘hunters’ has been unleashed in Ukraine to detain or kill a set of specific Ukrainian officials, Daily Mail reported.

Each soldier was reportedly given a special ‘deck of cards’ with Ukrainian officials’ photos and descriptions on them, a Moscow Telegram channel with links to the security establishment reported, Daily Mail reported.

The list is of officials and security officers suspected of ‘crimes’ by the Russian Investigative Committee, the report added.

It came as Ukraine’s President admitted that he is ‘target number one’ for Russian assassins in his capital, while his family is ‘the number two goal’ for Putin’s hitmen.

The Chechen squad is thought to be in a Ukrainian forest and was allegedly given an ‘order to kill’ if those on the wanted list could not be detained, the report said.

ALSO READ: Russia turning into a rogue state under Putin

Categories
USA World

Biden discusses security issues with Zelensky

US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.(Photo_Instagram)

The talks between the leaders lasted about one and a half hours, reports Asian Lite News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart Joe Biden held a telephone conversation to discuss the security situation around Ukraine and the prospects for intensifying the peaceful settlement in Donbas.

During the talks, which lasted one and a half hours, the two leaders exchanged their views on the results of the recent talks between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the conversation, Zelensky reiterated his country’s commitment to peaceful settlement in Donbas, stressing that Kiev has clear proposals to unlock the peace process and stands ready to discuss them in various formats.

Zelensky and Biden also discussed the ways to provide security, financial and political support for Kiev and the steps to strengthen Ukraine’s energy sustainability.

On Tuesday, Biden and Putin met online to discuss the Ukrainian crisis, among other issues.