(AFP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday (11) that Russia’s advance has been contained and that the situation on the front “is much better”, contradicting information released by Moscow about its military campaign in the former Soviet republic.
“The Russian advance has been contained,” Zelensky said in an interview with the French network BFM TV and the newspaper Le Monde. “Our command, our army has stopped the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine.”
In recent months, Kiev’s forces have faced increasing pressure at the front, losing ground to Moscow as they wait for more help from Western countries, especially an aid package blocked in the US Congress.
“I can give you this new information: the situation now is much better than it has been in recent months,” said Zelensky, adding that Ukraine is building fortification lines of “more than a thousand kilometers”.
“When we talk about fortifications, we’re talking about a continuous process,” he said. “We’re not talking about a few kilometers, or hundreds of kilometers, but more than a thousand kilometers of construction. It’s a very complicated task. They have to be strong and resistant to the climate, but also to any military equipment used against these defensive lines,” Zelensky explained.
The statements were made after the Ukrainian president expressed his indignation at statements made by the Pope, who called for the parties to the conflict to negotiate “before things get worse”. The pontiff told Swiss channel RTS that he believes that “those who see the situation, who think of the people, who have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate, are stronger”.
The Ukrainian Chancellery today summoned the Vatican’s representative, nuncio Visvaldas Kulbokas, in protest at the Argentinian Pope’s statements.
Referring to a comment by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last month that he would not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, Zelensky said that “as long as Ukraine holds out, the French army can remain on French territory”.
The Ukrainian president said that sending foreign troops was not necessary at the moment, but asked for “technical personnel” to “co-produce” French Caesar cannons or German Leopard tanks.
The end of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, however, may depend on the outcome of the November elections in the United States, a race in which former president Donald Trump is profiled as the likely Republican candidate.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with Trump in Florida last Friday and said that the tycoon assured him that he “won’t give a dime” to Ukraine.
mdr-jf/jh/an/mb/mvv/rpr-lb *** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***