Putin does not want peace - Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: Getty Images)
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not preparing for negotiations but for the continuation of the war. In particular, Russia is increasing its army by more than 100,000 troops, stated President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his video address.
"Putin is not preparing for negotiations, not for peace, but for the continuation of the war, and not only against us, against Ukraine. They are now increasing their army by more than 100 thousand soldiers," the president said.
Zelenskyy noted that all partners should know about this and should see it. Ukraine is ready to pass on the relevant information, and the relevant communication is already taking place through the intelligence community. Moreover, the Ukrainian president emphasized that every country in Europe will have to strengthen its defense.
"We need to see together what the threats are and what our countermeasures are. We need a clear understanding: here in Europe, every country will have to strengthen its defense, and the target of 5% of GDP for defense will not disappear from the agenda," he said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also informed that the new Chair of the NATO Military Committee was visiting Ukraine today. In particular, they discussed preparations for the meeting in the Ramstein format, and the President said that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russians are developing new military production facilities.
"Today we discussed preparations for Ramstein and the needs of our defense - our common defense. We now know - our intelligence reports to us - that the Russians are creating new divisions and developing new military production facilities. Their cooperation with North Korea will continue to expand. Unfortunately, Moscow is also spreading modern warfare technologies to that region, including drone technology," Zelenskyy said.
He explained that this means, among other things, that Putin is preparing to continue the war.
Ramstein and the meeting with Trump
A new meeting of the Ukraine defense contact group in the Ramstein format is expected on Tuesday, February 12. It will be attended for the first time by the new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hagel. According to the Pentagon's announcement, during the meeting, he will reaffirm US President Donald Trump's commitment to a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.
Yesterday, the President of Ukraine said that his team and the team of the new White House chief of staff are already planning meetings and negotiations. So, according to Zelenskyy, the coming weeks could be busy.
Moreover, Donald Trump himself suggested that a meeting with the Ukrainian president could take place next week.
The other day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he was ready for talks with Kremlin head Vladimir Putin. However, he emphasized the condition that it is necessary to understand how the war will end.
