The president, Volodímir Zelenski, has been in favor of a diplomatic solution to the crisis with Russia, and has thanked the EU for the aid of 1,200 million euros.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, today assured the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, that he is in favor of a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis and that the country will not succumb to Russia’s provocations.
“We are in favor of a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict,” Zelensky said during a telephone conversation with the Belgian politician, according to a statement from his office.
The president has reiterated that Kiev understands “all the risks” in the face of the threat of an attack due to the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian soldiers on the border with Ukraine and “is prepared for any scenario.”
However, he has indicated that Ukraine has lived in this state since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and the armed conflict began in the east of the country between pro-Russian separatists supported by Moscow and the Ukrainian Army.
The worst enemy, panic
Zelensky has reiterated that currently “the worst enemy is panic” that can be generated by warnings from the West, especially from the US, about an imminent Russian attack, even next week.
The Ukrainian president and Michel discussed the steps being taken to promote de-escalation and achieve peace in Donbas within the existing negotiation formats, in particular the Normandy Format (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France).
He also thanked Michel and the leaders of the European Union (EU) for keeping their diplomats in the country.
Sanctions and help
He has also reiterated the Ukrainian demand that preventive sanctions be imposed on Russia in order to prevent “the aggressive intentions of the Kremlin”, something that the EU does not contemplate.
In this context, the Ukrainian president thanked the EU for the macro-financial aid package of 1,200 million euros granted to the former Soviet republic.
No news on the border
For his part, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, assured this Sunday that he has no record of “drastic changes” on the Ukrainian border in recent days.
Similarly, activity in the “occupied territories”, as he described the Donetsk and Luhansk republics in the east of the country, remains unchanged.
“Ukraine is not alone. The situation remains under control, and the country is prepared for any type of scenario,” he assured in statements collected by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, dozens of countries have issued diplomatic evacuation orders to their non-essential personnel (although many embassies remain operational, including those of the European Union) and travel alerts to their citizens due to the upturn in tension.
Thus, the Dutch flag carrier, KLMhas announced the suspension with immediate effect of all its flights to Ukraine.
Source: Eitb
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