Ukraine will not end the war against Russia on the battlefield: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed on Saturday that diplomacy is the only way to end Russia’s invasion of his country, even as peace talks continue to stall.

“There are things that can only be achieved at the negotiating table,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with a Ukrainian news channel.

Ukraine has so far been able to prevent Russia from achieving its original military objectives and repelling invading forces from the capital Kyiv and northern city of Kharkiv. Fighting is now concentrated in the eastern Donbass region, which has been occupied by pro-Russian separatists for several years. As Selenskyj made his statements on Saturday times of Israel reported that Russian forces had destroyed a shipment of arms from allied nations bound for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy stressed that the fighting will continue while a diplomatic solution is being sought and that it will be “bloody” and “can only be finally ended through diplomacy”. The leader added that his government will only accept ceasefire terms that are “fair” to Ukraine.

Numerous rounds of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have stalled amid nearly three months of military conflict, with both nations unwilling to accept the other’s terms. Ukraine, in particular, has declared that it will not negotiate away its own territorial claims and national sovereignty.

“We want everything back,” summarized Zelenskyj in an interview. “Russia doesn’t want to give anything away.

“Talks between Ukraine and Russia will definitely go ahead. In what format I don’t know — with facilitators, without them, in a broader group, at the presidential level.”

Zelenskyy also took the interview as an opportunity to praise the Ukrainian armed forces for their fight against Russia and claimed that they had broken the “backbone” of “one of the strongest armies in the world”.

“We’ve already done that,” he added. “Even mentally. You won’t be able to get back on your feet for the next few years. But let’s not forget that all our soldiers also want to live.”

Contrary to the views of his successor, former President Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with Current Time on Saturday that Vladimir Putin could only be met with force.

“Putin only understands violence [and he] will go as far as the world allows him,” Poroshenko said. “We cannot set a precedent for the world – and even more so for Europe – in which a state can change by force [borders].”