‘Will fight for every metre of land’, says Zelensky amid Russian ‘pullback’

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said that negotiations with Russia were “only words,” adding that Ukrainian defence forces would fight for every inch of land till a the two warring parties reach a concrete agreement.

Speaking during his nightly video address on social media, the 44-year-old said, “Yes we have negotiations process but they’re only words, without anything concrete. There are other words about alleged pullback of Russian troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv, and reduction of activities of the occupiers in these territories. This is not a retreat, this is the result of the work of our defenders, who pushed them back.”

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Zelensky’s emphasis that Russian forces had not retreated despite talks comes on the back of reports of Russian shelling near the capital, Kyiv.

The 44-year-old Ukrainian President further said on Wednesday that Ukraine’s military was “ready” for new attacks on the contested Donbas region in the east of the country, saying, “We will not give anything away and we will fight for every metre of our land.”

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Zelensky further urged the public to refrain from criticising Ukrainian defence forces, saying, “If someone thinks that he or she can teach our military how to fight, and how to stand up to the enemy, the best way to do it is to go to the battlefield on your own, not from a couch at home or from a safe place you escaped to — but from real battle grounds and show your abilities to fight. If you’re not ready to do that, don’t even start to teach our defenders how to do their job.”

Finally, Zelensky said that he held an hour long phone call with US President Joe Biden and thanked him for the additional $500 million in aid pledged by his administration.