President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the citizens of Russia. The video recording of the speech was published in his official Telegram-channel.
In his appeal, the Ukrainian leader switched to Russian and said that Russians and Ukrainians are different, but “this is no reason to be enemies.” He also stressed that Ukraine does not need “neither cold, nor hot, nor hybrid” war. “But we will defend ourselves,” the head of state said.
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Two Ukraine
In the same video, Zelensky said that most Russians are mistaken when they think that Kiev can pose a threat to the Russian Federation. He noted that Ukraine in Russian news and Ukraine in real life are completely different. “The main difference between them is that ours is real,” he said. The President urged the citizens of Russia not to believe what they “tell on TV” and stressed that the country does not destroy, but builds its own future.
The Ukrainian president also refuted the hatred of Ukrainians for Russian culture.
How can we hate your culture? Neighbors always enrich each other culturally, but we do not dissolve in you
Zelensky noted that the Ukrainian people do not support Nazism, because they gave 8 million lives for the victory over it. “How can I be a Nazi? Tell this to my grandfather, who went through the entire war in the infantry of the Soviet army, and died as a colonel in independent Ukraine, ”he continued.
Readiness for dialogue with Russia
Addressing all Russians “not as a president, but as a citizen of Ukraine,” Zelensky said that Kiev is ready for a dialogue with the Russian Federation in any format and on any platform. “The security of Ukraine is connected with the security of our neighbors. Today we need to talk about the security of all of Europe. But our main goal is peace in Ukraine and the security of our citizens,” he stated.
According to Zelensky, on February 23, he tried to have a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his proposal was not responded to. “The result is silence. Although there should be silence in the Donbass,” the Ukrainian president said.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin does not a priori refuse to meet the heads of the two states. Responding to reporters, Peskov noted that Russia is ready to meet with the Ukrainian leader if it helps to “cut the Gordian knot” in eastern Ukraine. At the same time, he said that in Moscow “understanding” of specific issues that could form the basis of the agenda of the meeting of the leaders of the two countries has not yet matured.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken refused to answer a question from journalists about the future of the Normandy format, which was created to facilitate the implementation of the Minsk agreements on a settlement in eastern Ukraine. Blinken forwarded the relevant question to the President of Russia. “As far as we can see, by his actions he rejected, in fact, broke the Minsk agreements, which the Normandy format was intended to promote,” he stressed.
On February 21, Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR and instructed the country’s Armed Forces to ensure the maintenance of peace in the republics. After that, a number of Western countries went to the introduction of new packages of sanctions against Moscow and criticized her for the decision.
Over the past few months, Kiev and Western countries have been accusing Russia of pulling troops to the borders of Ukraine and preparing a military offensive. Moscow has repeatedly denied the existence of such aggressive plans.
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