Zelenskyy: Stabilization on front is reliable basis for diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy notes the importance of stabilizing the situation at the front for further diplomatic steps to end the war.
"The situation on the front line is still very difficult. Stabilization on the front line is a reliable basis for diplomacy," Zelenskyy said during a meeting of leaders in France on support for Ukraine.
He noted that the Russian Federation is preparing for new attacks on Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions, is delaying negotiations and is trying to draw the United States into endless and pointless discussions in order to gain time and then try to seize even more Ukrainian territory.
"So, our job - all of us - is defense in the broadest sense of the word. That is, continued military assistance, but, in addition, we need investments, more joint projects, more joint production, more localization, everything that is aimed at scaling and developing our defense production - from shells to drones and missiles. Europe needs everything possible for its own defense," the Ukrainian president said.
He noted that there are currently US proposals on the table, in particular regarding a complete and unconditional ceasefire, and Ukraine has agreed to them. "But, of course, Russia refused and put forward a bunch of absurd conditions that no one asked for," Zelenskyy noted.