Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a press conference this Saturday, April 23, 2022, for more than an hour, in front of several dozen journalists in the basements of the kyiv metro. “It is difficult to assess the decisions of Vladimir Putin”, he began, to answer a question from a journalist who asked him if the Russian president was “crazy”. “I insisted on the direct exchange, I offered several times to meet us”, he justified, reiterating his call for a meeting “to put an end to the war”. “I think whoever started this war can end it,” he said. “A leader must not be afraid” “Are you afraid for your safety? asked a journalist. “I’m not afraid, but my family is afraid,” he replied. “I have no right to be afraid given the courage shown by my people, a leader should not be afraid when it comes to the interest of the state”.
The Ukrainian President also addressed the inhabitants of the city of Kherson, in the hands of the Russians since the beginning of the invasion, asking them “not to help the occupier because it is known that the Russians go into the houses to collect informations “.
“We are going to take back everything the enemy has taken from us, we are going to take back the occupied territories”, declared Volodymyr Zelensky, repeating that the war “was not a question of years”. Meeting with the head of American diplomacy, this Sunday in kyiv Regarding the situation in Mariupol, he affirmed that the Ukrainian army “was not ready to militarily unblock the siege” of this strategic port in the south-east of Ukraine. The city was largely destroyed by Russian shelling and a new attempt to evacuate civilians, organized this Saturday, was “disrupted” by the Russians, according to the city’s deputy mayor. He also warned Russia: “If our men are killed in Mariupol and if pseudo-referendums are organized in the Kherson region, then Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiation process”. He also said he was “ready” for “an exchange of our soldiers who defend Mariupol”, in “any format”, to get out “these people who are in a horrible situation, surrounded”. The Ukrainian President also announced that he will meet, this Sunday, April 24, the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the United States Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, in kyiv, two months to the day after the beginning of the Russian invasion. “We have high expectations for this deadline,” he explained, detailing that the discussions would mainly revolve around the schedule for arms deliveries. This will be the first official visit by US government officials to Ukraine since February 24. Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the “illogical” decision of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to travel to Moscow on Tuesday, two days before going to kyiv. “It’s just wrong to go to Russia first and then Ukraine,” he said. “There is no justice and no logic in this order”. 500,000 Ukrainians deported, according to his estimates After the Russian strikes this Saturday on Odessa, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that seven Russian missiles had been fired at the city, killing eight people including a three-month-old baby. “We must seize every chance so that there are no more three-month-old babies who die in this war”, he chanted, moved, denouncing the “total barbarism” of the Russians. According to his estimates, 500,000 Ukrainians have been deported, “either to separatist territories or to the Russian Federation”, including 5,000 children, “a verified figure which dates from a week ago”, specified the president Ukrainian. War in Ukraine. What to remember from Zelensky’s intervention in the Kiev metroEXPAND