Zelensky says Ukraine unbroken after 4 years, but Russia vows to fight on

KYIV, Ukraine, February 25 ------ Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukraine, its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as the Kremlin marked the start of the fifth year of its invasion by vowing to keep fighting Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II until it achieves its goals. Moscow had hoped to take Kyiv in the days when it launched its invasion on February 24, 2022.

Four years later -- with hundreds of thousands dead, millions forced to flee, much of eastern Ukraine destroyed, and US-led peace talks still deadlocked over territory -- it conceded that it has not achieved all it wants in the country. "The goals haven't been fully achieved yet, which is why the military operation continues," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question.

Ukraine, meanwhile, was ready to do "everything" it could to secure peace, Zelenskyy said in a video address that featured images of Ukrainians carrying out acts of resistance against Russian soldiers in the opening days of the conflict. But any settlement must not "betray" the price paid by Ukrainians throughout the conflict, he said.

"Putin has not achieved his goals. He did not break the Ukrainians. He did not win this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace -- and to ensure there is justice," Zelensky said. "We want peace. Strong, dignified, and lasting peace," he said, but any deal must be "accepted by Ukrainians". "Everything Ukraine has gone through. It must not be surrendered, forgotten, or betrayed," he added.

Several European leaders, including Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, visited Kyiv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary. In an address to the EU parliament and speaking alongside visiting EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, Zelenskyy urged Brussels to accelerate Kyiv's admission to the bloc, or face "decades" of Russian attempts to disrupt the process. Speaking in Moscow to agents of his FSB security service, Putin said Ukraine has "not managed to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield" and was upping its behind-the-lines sabotage attacks.

Source: manilatimes.net