Zelensky rejects idea of ​​ceasefire or 'concessions' to Russia

Photo: Kateryna Klochko Associated Press A series of Russian strikes killed four people and wounded 40 in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.

Agence France-Presse in Budapest

Published at 16:52

• Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday rejected the idea of ​​discussing a ceasefire with Russia or making any “concessions” to it, after Moscow warned the West to negotiate or risk “destruction of the Ukrainian population.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, who recently won the US presidential election, have separately said they are ready to talk to each other.

Mr. Putin said he was “ready to resume contact” with Donald Trump. “I think we will talk,” said the American billionaire, who had promised during the campaign that he could end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours.”

“You can’t just say ‘ceasefire now and then we’ll see.’ That’s not sustainable. And the worst part is that it’s irresponsible,” Zelensky said at a news conference on the sidelines of a summit of the European Political Community in Budapest, calling it “very dangerous rhetoric.”

The Ukrainian president had said earlier on Thursday that making “concessions to Putin” was “unacceptable for Ukraine and suicidal for all of Europe,” echoing part of a speech he had made earlier.

Calls for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have grown louder after more than two and a half years of a devastating war, including among some of kyiv’s allies.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the European leader most sympathetic to Mr. Putin, repeated his call on Thursday for a battlefield truce, to “give the warring parties the space and time to communicate and begin negotiating peace.”

North Korean “Losses”

Mr. Zelensky assured for the first time that the North Korean soldiers accused by kyiv and the West of being deployed in Russia to support Moscow's forces have “taken part in hostilities” and suffered “losses.”

According to him, 11,000 North Korean soldiers are deployed in the Russian region of Kursk, a small part of which Ukrainian forces have occupied since a surprise offensive launched in early August.

North Korea is now “waging war in Europe,” he lamented.

The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency has cast a chill over kyiv, which fears a disengagement from its main supplier of arms and financing in the coming months.

“I spoke to President Trump […], it was a productive conversation but, of course, we cannot say what specific actions he will take,” noted the Ukrainian head of state.

He thus called on Americans and Europeans to be “strong” and to “value” their relations. “I believe that President Trump really wants [to reach] a quick solution. But that does not mean that it will happen,” he said.

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Mr. Zelensky also said he had met in Budapest with French President Emmanuel Macron, with the two men discussing military aid to Ukraine and training Ukrainian soldiers in France.

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“Destruction of the population”

On the ground, a series of Russian strikes left four dead and 40 injured in the city of Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine. Glider bombs hit a hospital and residential buildings, local authorities said.

The strikes came hours after Russian Security Council chief Sergei Shoigu urged kyiv’s Western allies to enter into negotiations if they want to end attacks on Ukrainians.

“The situation in the theater of hostilities is not in favor of the Kiev regime, the West has a choice: continue its financing [of Ukraine] and the destruction of the Ukrainian population or admit the existing realities and start negotiating,” he said during a meeting.

With Donald Trump back in the White House, the ball is in the American court, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

“We will see if there are any proposals” from the new American administration, he declared.

Series of attacks

With the apparent desire to break the morale of the population, Russia continues its daily bombings of Ukraine.

On Thursday, a strike on the village of Mykolaivka killed two people and injured five, according to the governor of the eastern Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin.

The capital Kiev was also targeted by drone raids for almost the entire first week of November, the military administration said.

Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede five regions of the country and renounce its ambition to join NATO. These conditions are unacceptable to Mr. Zelensky, who insists on the pure and simple withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied territories.

Mr. Putin reiterated on Thursday that Moscow was ready to negotiate with kyiv based on “current realities” on the ground.

Seoul does not rule out direct arms shipment to Ukraine

The South Korean president has not ruled out delivering weapons directly to Ukraine to help it in its war against Russian forces soon to be joined by North Korean soldiers according to kyiv and Washington, which would constitute a change in Seoul's line on the matter.

At a press conference held Thursday in Seoul, President Yoon Suk-yeol also reported that he had discussed the North Korean issue with US President-elect Donald Trump and planned to meet him in the “near future”.

The government of South Korea, a major arms exporter, has previously said it is studying the possibility of sending weapons directly to kyiv. It has so far opposed this because of a long-standing national policy that prevents it from arming countries engaged in active conflicts.

“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in several stages,” Yoon said.

“This means that we do not rule out the possibility of providing weapons,” he added, specifying, without elaborating, that “if we engage in arms support, we consider defensive weapons as a priority.”

Seoul has for several months accused the North Korean government of delivering artillery shells and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine, where Russia has been waging an offensive since February 2022.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, some 11,000 North Korean soldiers have also been deployed in the Russian region of Kursk, which borders Ukraine, to support the Kremlin’s forces there, where, since a surprise Ukrainian offensive in August, kyiv’s forces have occupied several hundred square kilometers.

Russia and North Korea have grown considerably closer since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Cat Barton and Kang Jin-kyu, in Seoul, Agence France-Presse