Ukrainian President Zelensky says ceasefire only freezes conflict
According to the Ukrainian President, the ceasefire only freezes but does not end the conflict, so there needs to be a clear plan for what will happen next.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on July 4 that he was not ready to call for a ceasefire or negotiations with Russia as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had suggested he do during his visit to Kiev on July 2, TASS news agency reported.
“On the ceasefire, I have been very clear: We are at war and we cannot talk about a ceasefire like that,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Mr Zelensky said Russia could use the ceasefire to build up forces and resume military operations.
“This is why a ceasefire can only be achieved on a transparent international platform with the presence of countries with credible leaders,” he continued.
According to Mr. Zelensky, the ceasefire will only freeze, not end the conflict, so there needs to be a clear plan for what will happen next.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban said at a press conference in Kiev that he had asked Mr. Zelensky to declare a ceasefire. However, Mr. Zelensky did not mention the Hungarian Prime Minister's initiative at this press conference.
Igor Zhovkva, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, later said that such initiatives could not be considered in isolation from other aspects of conflict resolution efforts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined conditions for resolving the situation in Ukraine during a meeting with senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials on June 14.
Mr Putin's terms included Ukraine withdrawing its troops from Donbass and Novorossia, and abandoning plans to join NATO.
In addition, Moscow believes that all Western sanctions must be lifted and Ukraine's non-nuclear and non-NATO status must be guaranteed.
Mr Putin noted that if Ukraine and the West reject the initiative, conditions could change in the future. For its part, Kiev has rejected Russia's peace plan.
