Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described his country’s defensive struggle against Russian aggression in very undiplomatic terms. With its attacks and acts of violence, Russia is showing that it does not want to negotiate, Selenskyj told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday at the end of the so-called Crimea platform. And Ukraine is trying in vain to make it clear to the world that Russia is not thinking about dialogue.
“They have decided to occupy our country,” he said in Russian. “When they made that decision in 2014, the world didn’t just punch them in the face, and so they went on and on and on. But we’re going to kick them in the face.”
Later in his evening video address, Zelenskyy thanked for the international support Ukraine had received at the forum to repatriate Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. “Crimea is an indispensable part of our state,” he said. Ukraine will liberate the Black Sea Peninsula and give its compatriots the freedom they deserve.
Ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday, the President called on citizens to exercise great caution over fears of Russian attacks.
