Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s ceasefire remarks are “at odds with reality,” as Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations over mutual infrastructure attacks.
Earlier, Russian and Ukrainian authorities reported overnight attacks on local infrastructure, hours after a Tuesday phone call between Putin and US President Donald Trump in which the Russian leader agreed to a limited ceasefire that would temporarily halt attacks "on all energy and infrastructure.”
Zelenskyy said later that evening that he would support the initiative.
But on Wednesday Zelenskyy told a joint press conference in Helsinki with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb: “There were 150 drones overnight, including on energy facilities. There were strikes on transport, unfortunately, two hospitals were hit, as well as ordinary urban infrastructure."
"So Putin's words are very different from reality," he stated.
Saying the issue of territory will be one of the “sensitive and difficult” issues in possible upcoming negotiations, Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Kyiv will not recognize Russia’s control over Ukrainian territories, calling this a “red line” that they will not cross.
The Ukrainian president conveyed his belief that the ongoing conflict in his country can end this year with a "decent" peace, but that security guarantees for Kyiv are "definitely needed."
"Otherwise, Putin will come again with war, and this has been his essence from the very beginning," Zelenskyy further said.
He also said that an "unconditional ceasefire" should be the first point agreed upon during future peace talks, and that Kyiv is ready to prepare a list of facilities that cannot be attacked and transfer it to its partners.
"If the Russians don't attack our facilities, we definitely won't attack their facilities," he said.
Zelenskyy went on to deny that he would not discuss the topic of Ukraine's military and economic security guarantees with Russia, calling these two points "unconditional."
The conditions listed by Putin with regard to the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the US only show his intent to continue the conflict, Zelenskyy argued.
Zelenskyy also confirmed he will have a phone conversation with Trump later Wednesday and that they will discuss details concerning “next steps.”
“We really had a good meeting of our teams in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). I think everything went well, if not for Russia, which is always not happy when something goes well,” he added.
