Zelenskyy: Some people from my office were killed by Russia at start of full-scale invasion
Pravda Ukraine
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shared about the attempts to assassinate him at the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as the killing of some people from the Office of the President.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with The Guardian
Details: The President of Ukraine said that at the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he received “messengers”, in particular, representatives of the parliament, who “came and said that “tomorrow we will be occupied, we have to run”.
Zelenskyy also noted that he had received calls from leaders of different countries urging him to leave Ukraine.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “There was pressure from different sides. Some people wanted to kill me. There were shots and so on. Some people were killed here, inside our office, and other people were defending us. There was an airborne assault, and so on. All this was happening. And at the same time, there were ultimatums. They were putting pressure.”
Details: Zelenskyy also stressed that he had never agreed to any Russian ultimatums, which, he believes, required a betrayal of Ukrainian national interests.
At the same time, he noted that Putin continues to express “readiness for negotiations” based on the so-called Istanbul agreements.
Background:
- Ukraine’s representatives in the 2022 negotiations with Russia recalled that the Russians demanded Ukraine’s actual surrender with “demilitarisation” and “denazification.” The Russians did not consider Ukrainian resistance and that Ukraine might not agree to the Russian demands. After Russian representatives contacted the Kremlin, it became clear that the so-called agreement would not be reached.
- Ukraine has been trying to negotiate for peace since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly called on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss all pressing issues in person. He ignored him. Eventually, Zelenskyy stated that Putin’s statements about his desire for peace were not sincere and approved the National Security and Defence Council’s decision not to negotiate with him.
- A few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, a peace deal could have been concluded. The conditions for ending the war were spelt out in a 17-page draft agreement that the parties agreed on 15 April 2022. Russia demanded neutrality from Ukraine and a limit on the number of troops, weapons, equipment, and aircraft. The occupied territories were to remain with Russia.
- However, in April 2022, Russia disrupted peace talks with Ukraine by including a paragraph in the draft agreement stating that it would have a veto over the international community’s response in the event of a repeated attack on Ukraine.
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