'Pause for Putin': Zelenskyy explains risks of break in war for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo: president.gov/ua-2)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the interview with Cinque Minuti, called the break in the war a serious challenge and a big problem for Ukraine and Europe. Based on past experience, he noted that the frozen conflict is actually a favorable pause for Putin.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine had such an experience after the occupation of Crimea and after the occupation of part of Donbas.
"It was probably similar to what is now being said in some media and by some leaders. They say that we need a pause... But we've been through this. This pause in the war is not a pause in the war but a pause for Putin. He needs a pause, and this is a fact. In order to accumulate strength," the President of Ukraine emphasized.
Zelenskyy said that Russia is currently experiencing a significant shortage of missiles.
"They are trying to buy them from Iran and have already taken them from North Korea. They have a shortage of artillery shells and take them from the DPRK. Similarly, drones are also manufactured and purchased in Iran," he said.
According to Zelenskyy, the occupiers need this pause because they have a shortage of experienced military personnel whom they lost on the territory of Ukraine.
"These people died. And now we can see from the contingent that comes to us, to our land and fights with us, even those who are captured, we have seen that there are people who have not even been trained for a month," he said.
At the same time, Zelenskyy added that Ukraine understands that Russia lacks officers and ordinary soldiers who have undergone the appropriate training.
"So this pause will play into Putin's hands. We believe that it will be the same as it was after 2014. When the frozen conflict gave them the opportunity to build up weapons, accumulate strength, and then invade Ukraine. He can do the same," the President of Ukraine summarized.
Freezing the war in Ukraine
Zelenskyy has previously emphasized that the frozen conflict is a stalemate, and Ukraine has lived with it. However, the country cannot afford something like this now.
Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Presidential Office, emphasized that freezing the war would only lead to a large-scale resumption.
At the same time, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opposed an abrupt cessation of hostilities, as it would not be a fair and lasting peace for Ukraine.
The head of the Center for Military Legal Studies, Oleksandr Musienko, said that freezing Russia's war against Ukraine is only theoretically possible. The position of the two sides rejects this possibility.
