Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin not only wants to derail the Global Peace Summit, but also fears what it might bring.
This is what the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, quoted by "Ukrinform".
As usual, the head of state reviewed the past day.
"It was a long day. I was in Kharkiv this morning. I visited the site of the Russian missile attack on one of the largest Ukrainian publishing complexes. Absolutely horrible - people were killed. My condolences to the families and friends. Many people were injured. Also, books were burned by the strike and equipment was destroyed. The destruction of this printing house alone resulted in the loss of about a third of the country's annual book production. Russian terror constantly proves that its goal is the complete destruction of Ukraine and everything alive here on our earth, everything that allows people to be people. We will do everything to protect our country and hold the Russian evil responsible for what it has done. Today, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the authorities of the Kharkiv region have received all the necessary instructions to support the restoration of the work of the printing house in Kharkiv. The branch also needs support at the state level. And please - if you have the opportunity - do not forget to support our Ukrainian book publishers and Ukrainian authors. It is important. Terrorists will definitely get our response to this attack." he said.
I held a security meeting in Kharkiv with reports from the military, heads of special services, regional and city authorities. Now our fighters have managed to take control of the border zone where the Russian occupiers entered. And I am grateful to every unit that provides the necessary results for the destruction of the occupier. Today we also discussed our next tasks based on intelligence information.
According to him, Putin not only wants to derail the Peace Summit and is trying to do a lot to that end, but he is also afraid of what the meeting might bring. For Zelensky, the world is capable of forcing Russia to peace and compliance with international security norms.
"Russia has nothing to oppose the world majority: despite all Putin's lies, he depends on his environment - in the broadest sense of the word. It also depends on the international environment. No one in the world cares about this war except the aggressor, and in fact everyone is aware of it. The peace summit is a format that will not allow Putin to lie anymore. Without his lies he is absolutely nothing. And I thank everyone around the world who is helping us organize the summit and who is showing their leadership to bring real peace closer," the Ukrainian president said.
Today I spoke with the President of Côte d'Ivoire and invited him to the peace summit and I am grateful for his willingness to participate. Today I also met with the Marshal of the Senate of Poland - I thanked her for her support, told about the situation in Ukraine and, of course, we discussed our preparations for the summit. I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine and a real honest peace!, he concluded.
We remind you that Putin declared that the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ended.
The Russian leader used the briefing after his meeting with Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk to answer questions and comment on the topic of the day today - the publications about his readiness to freeze the military conflict, but to the current borders, that is. the occupied parts of Ukrainian regions remain of unclear status. The thesis about the realities that must be taken into account is not the first time that the Kremlin has advanced it, which has already annexed through controlled referendums four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson.
The question with whom to negotiate for Ukraine is not devoid of meaning, notes Vladimir Putin. "Who should we negotiate with? This is not an empty question, we know that the legitimacy of the current head of state of Ukraine has ended," says Putin.
This is not the first time Vladimir Putin has raised this question, with the first such comment coming during his appearances during his visit to China.
Otherwise, Vladimir Putin points out that Russia has not prohibited anyone from conducting negotiations on Ukraine, unlike the West, which has set itself the goal of defeating the Russian Federation. On the contrary, according to Putin's words, which he points out again - Russia has never given up on such negotiations. He also refers to the negotiations in Turkey and the project for the Istanbul Agreement, which, again according to Vladimir Putin, suited both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. This time, however, the Russian president also spoke about a signature from the Ukrainian side.