Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the goals in the military conflict with the Russian Federation are the extradition of prisoners and the restoration of the country’s integrity. His words were reported in the “Strana” broadcast.
“The aim is to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and liberate everyone in captivity,” Zelensky said at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada.
He added that since the beginning of the active phase of the conflict, Kiev has returned 1,456 Ukrainian soldiers from captivity.
According to the president, Ukraine has become “one of the leaders of the free world”. Zelensky also called for reforms in existing international organizations, “because they are not capable of guaranteeing peace.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that Ukraine “helps the West find itself again” and emphasized that 2023 will be decisive in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
We continue to train our defense and security forces until next year. This should be a decisive year, ”the journalists quote the words of the politician.
He added that Ukrainian officials understand their spring plans and will “show the full potential of the defense and security sector”. Among other state tasks, Zelensky called the “restoration of Ukraine”, “more rapprochement of the state with key partners” and “opening of new global opportunities” for the country.
After the end of hostilities, Volodymyr Zelensky also plans to complete the digitization of utilities and make Ukraine a leader in green energy. Finally, he expressed hope that he could bring back all the Ukrainians who had left the country before.
Kremlin statement
Answering journalists’ questions at a briefing on December 28, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said that Ukraine does not have this “peace plan” because Kiev does not take into account “today’s realities”.
“So far there is no peace plan for Ukraine. There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities with the entry of new territories into the Russian Federation. “A plan that ignores the facts cannot be claimed to be peaceful,” he said.
The world is not in the plan
On December 23, Volodymyr Zelensky identified eight main tasks of Ukrainian diplomacy for 2023. Peace talks with Moscow are not among them, TASS reported.
First of all, the tasks of carrying out the EU accession negotiations, preparing for the NATO summit and “obtaining concrete results” after the summit were named. Meeting the country’s defense needs or supplying weapons from allied countries were also among the planned programs.
Talking about the restoration of energy in the country, Zelenskiy demanded that the ambassadors “work as closely as possible with the government, office, international organizations and partner states” on this issue to achieve results.
The meeting also touched upon Russia in the context of strengthening sanctions enforcement, establishing a court in connection with a special operation, and blocking assets. The eighth point was called the support of Ukrainians around the world.
“Work for the return of our people to the state and for the fulfillment of all their rights and legitimate interests in the host countries,” said the head of state.
On the same day, Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow did not know anything about the fact that the office of the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky was developing a plan for a peaceful solution.
“Number. We don’t know anything about it. We have heard President Zelensky’s statements about various steps, the peace plan,” said Peskov.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, everything the Ukrainian leader has said so far has been said without taking into account the current realities that are already taking shape and cannot be ignored.
Earlier, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that the office of the President of Ukraine has finalized a peace plan with the Russian Federation and plans to present it on February 24, 2023, the anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities.