“Just the calm before the storm”
Selenskyj announces new reconquests
09/19/2022, 00:05
The Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region caught the Kremlin troops by surprise. In his evening speech, President Zelenskyy announced that the attacks would soon be continued. The current silence is nothing but preparations for the storming of Melitopol, Mariupol and Cherson.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced new attacks on Russian-held territory in Ukraine. “Perhaps it seems to some of you that after a series of victories there has been silence, but it is not silence,” said Zelenskyy in his daily video address in the evening. Rather, it is the preparation for the next offensive, the aim of which is the recapture of Mariupol, Melitopol and Cherson.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not only focus on the areas it controlled before the Russian attack in February. The 44-year-old announced that the territories of the Moscow-backed separatists in the east of the country and cities in Crimea, which had been annexed by Russia since 2014, would also be recaptured. “Because all of Ukraine must be free.”
After invading Ukraine on February 24, Russia has conquered large areas in the south and east of the country. Moscow still occupies around 125,000 square kilometers – that’s about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula.
Kyiv: Negotiations pointless at the moment
In line with Zelenskyy’s announcement, Kyiv had previously ruled out negotiations and a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart at this point in time. “In short, the negotiation process itself and a face-to-face meeting between the presidents doesn’t make sense at the moment,” external adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, said on Sunday, according to Ukrainian media.
Podoljak gave three reasons why talks are pointless at this stage. First, Russia will try to record and legitimize land gains. Second, maintaining the status quo is only serving Russia as a breathing space so that it can then continue the attacks on the new line. And third, Russia must be held accountable for crimes committed on Ukrainian territory. Negotiations are therefore only possible once the Russian troops have withdrawn from Ukrainian territory. Then the level of reparation payments and the handing over of war criminals could be negotiated, Podoljak said.
Negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow met shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. According to Russian information, Ukraine was ready at the time to largely accept Russian demands – including renouncing NATO membership. However, the talks broke off without an agreement being reached. In particular, Kyiv refused to respond to Moscow’s demand for territorial cessions. In the meantime, the Ukrainian position has hardened in view of its own successes at the front.