Volodymyr Zelensky says he intends to “recover all the territories of Ukraine”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to the French magazine L’Express. He expressed his ambition to reconquer the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. “The objective for us is to restore our borders.” Here is what Volodymyr Zelensky says in an interview with L’Express magazine, to be published in the Wednesday issue published in partnership with BFMTV, and already available on the weekly’s website. The Ukrainian president returns to it on the various aspects of the conflict, after six months of war, and evokes in particular the territorial integrity of Ukraine. For Volodymyr Zelensky, the strategic situation is considered day by day. He hopes despite everything, in the long term, “to take back all the territories” of the country occupied by Russia. Enemy forces, supported by pro-Russian separatists, now occupy part of Donbass in the east of the country. “We have comprehensive plans for the reoccupation of our territory. […] We will be able to move forward and take back our cities and free our compatriots who are hostages today. As president, my plans correspond to those of our society: to restore the territorial unity of Ukraine”, replies the Ukrainian leader. Crimea “is our peninsula” assures Volodymyr ZelenskyCrimea is part of this territorial integrity for the Ukrainian president: “it’s our peninsula”, asserts Volodymyr Zelenky. For him, the annexation of this region, in 2014, constitutes the starting point of the current conflict: “The war began when the first Russian soldier put its armed foot on the Crimean peninsula and occupied it.” Moreover, according to the head of state, the occupation of Ukraine by Russia is impossible. “People are not going to surrender , and they would have to kill millions of people”, he says. In the interview, he salutes the commitment of the Ukrainians, whom he describes as “all heroes”. will not be able to negotiate with Russia”Volodymyr Zelensky affirms that it is up to Russia to propose a solution to end this war, after s having failed to take the country quickly after the launch of its “special operation” on February 24. “Russia wanted to take the country in three days, it did not succeed. Russian leaders know very well that this is a trap in which they have trapped their own people. Now they have to find a solution,” said Volodymyr Zelensky. He also maintains that if Russia annexes other territories in Ukraine, diplomatic dialogue will be even more complicated. they commit, Ukrainians don’t want to talk to them anymore, he says. And without Ukraine, the world will not be able to negotiate with Russia, especially after the tortures that we have discovered.” Volodymyr Zelensky has already spoken to the French media in the past. On April 20, he gave an interview to BFMTV. He returned to the situation of the conflict at that time, the origins of the war which he located in 2014, and the “good relations” he had with Emmanuel Macron. A tense situation in Ukraine on the eve The anniversary of independence Ukraine celebrates the anniversary of its independence on Wednesday, a symbolic date which could be a pretext for acts “particularly disgusting, particularly cruel”, estimated Saturday Volodymyr Zelensky.On Tuesday, the American embassy in Ukraine urged its nationals to leave the country, in a message posted on its website: “The State Department has information that Russia is preparing to launch strikes against civilian and government infrastructure of Ukraine in the coming days”, she writes. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, has renewed his support for Ukraine and its president in recent days. After discussing the conflict during a speech in Bormes-les-Mimosas on Friday, he participated in the summit of the Crimean platform. In a video message, he affirms that Westerners are ready to maintain their support for kyiv “for the long term”.