Ukraine was “10%” away from a peace deal, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, and his country wanted an end to the war but not at “any cost”. The Ukrainian president, in his New Year’s Eve address, said any agreement needed strong security guarantees. “The peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains. And that is far more than just numbers.”
As the Russian ruler, Vladimir Putin, pushes for full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region as part of any deal, Zelenskyy said he did not believe Russia would stop there. “Pull out from the Donbas, and it will all be over. That is how deception sounds when translated from Russian – into Ukrainian, into English, into German, into French, and, in fact, into any language in the world.”
Zelenskyy said he would not sign a “weak” peace agreement that would only prolong the war. “What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine … Are we tired? Very. Does this mean we are ready to surrender? Anyone who thinks so is deeply mistaken.”
