Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday called on the army to stand firm against Russian invaders as street fighting raged around the capital Kyiv.
“The enemy will use all of their power on all fronts to break our defence," Zelenskiy said. “Many cities are under threat: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donbass, southern Ukraine and Kyiv.”
Zelenskiy posted a video from outside his city office rejecting reports he had ordered a surrender. “We are not putting our weapons down, we are going to protect our country,” he said.
Hours earlier on social media Zelenskiy hailed the French president Emmanuel Macron for his support in the face of the onslaught from the Russian army.
A new day on the diplomatic frontline began with a conversation with @EmmanuelMacron. Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 26, 2022
"I must say that he is a true friend of Ukraine, with us in the most difficult moments,” said Zelenskiy.
He thanked Macron for supporting the move to exclude Russia from the Swift currency exchange system, personal sanctions against the Russian president Vladimir Putin and the supply of defence weapons to Ukraine.
Macron met Putin last Thursday. He had asked the Russian president to stop the fighting as soon as possible. He also called for a dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war.
On Saturday, Zelenskiy said he had turned down an offer from the United States to leave Kyiv adding that his country needed help to defend its borders.
According to Reuters news agency, the American leader, Joe Biden, instructed the US State Department to release more than 300 million euros in military aid to Ukraine.
Diplomacy
On the diplomatic front, Russia used its power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to veto a Security Council draft resolution that would have deplored the invasion of Ukraine. China abstained from the vote along with the United Arab Emirates and India.
The remaining 11 council members voted for the resolution.
The draft resolution is now expected to be taken up by the 193-member UN General Assembly.
"We are united behind Ukraine and its people, despite a reckless, irresponsible permanent member of the Security Council abusing its power to attack its neighbour and subvert the UN and our international system," said US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, thanked the Security Council members who did not support the draft, which he described as anti-Russian.
"Your draft resolution is nothing other than yet another brutal, inhumane move in this Ukrainian chessboard," Nebenzia said.
