“No one will help Putin playing this kind of game,” he added, without however clearly rejecting this three-day truce offered by Moscow on the occasion of the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of victory against Nazi Germany.
The Ukrainian leader spoke Friday evening in front of journalists, including those of AFP. These statements were under embargo until Saturday.
Separate discussions between Moscow and kyiv, led by Washington, have been extended for more than two months and are struggling, for the time being, to achieve results to find a way out of the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Vladimir Putin had already decreed a short ceasefire during the Easter weekend in April, which had led to a drop in fighting without being fully respected by the two camps.
“The objective of the Easter truce proposed by Russia (in April, editor’s note), as well as the current initiative to declare a truce during the celebrations of May 8, 9 and 10, is to test the disposition of kyiv to find a path for long-term lasting peace,” the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, said on Saturday.
kyiv asks for “a total and unconditional ceasefire” as a prerequisite for any negotiation with Russia, which repeats that it is ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but is however reluctant on a prolonged truce.
Because Moscow, whose army currently has the advantage on the front, says it fears that a cease-fire will allow kyiv to regain strength, with the military support of his allies.Three -day truce in Ukraine: Zelensky denounces an “attempted manipulation”
Parade in Moscow
This year, the leaders of around twenty countries must be held alongside Mr. Putin on May 9, including Chinese presidents Xi Jinping and Brazilian Luiz Lula Da Silva, thus those of traditional Moscow allies such as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Cuba or Venezuela.
Zelensky said kyiv could not guarantee the “security” of the leaders present. “We do not know what Russia will do on this date. It could take different measures, such as fires, explosions, and then accuse us,” said the Ukrainian president.
In Ukraine, the announcement by Vladimir Putin of this truce was perceived by observers as a means of preventing Ukrainian strikes that can potentially disturb ceremonies. kyiv regularly hits targets in Russia with his long -range drones, who have also touched Moscow several times, in response to Russian bombings that have been ravaging his territory for more than three years.Putin claims to be “open” to peace in Ukraine but not as fast as what Trump hopes: “The conflict is so complicated”
-New night strikes
The White House argued on Monday that Donald Trump wanted a “permanent” ceasefire in Ukraine and not just a temporary truce such as that announced by Moscow.
Volodymyr Zelensky, he estimated on Friday evening that his meeting with the American president in the Vatican, on April 26, had allowed the latter to see “a little differently” the conflict.
After this interview, kyiv and Washington signed on Wednesday, after weeks of pressure and negotiations, an agreement which plans to give American companies access to the extraction of minerals, oil and gas in Ukraine and to create an investment fund between the two countries. Its conditions are much more favorable for kyiv than those of previous version.
However, the text offers no precise security guarantee in kyiv by Washington, which seeks to reduce its military aid to Ukraine.
At the same time, air attacks between the two camps have occurred again on the night of Friday to Saturday.
Russian drones injured 51 civilians in Kharkiv (northeast), the second city in Ukraine, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
On the Russian side, the authorities denounced a massive Ukrainian attack on the Krasnodar region (southwest), notably on the port of Novorossia, where five people were injured, said mayor Veniamine Kravtchenko.“NATO must expect the unexpected”: these signs which indicate that Russia will not stop after Ukraine
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