Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to a meeting in the war zone of eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President also stated:
“Does Ukraine want war? No. Is it ready for this? Yes,”, Zelensky said in a televised address to his nation on April 20. “Ukraine does not start the war first, but Ukraine will be the last to make this choice”.
“Mr. Putin!”, Zelensky said.
“I am ready to go even further and invite you to meet anywhere in Ukrainian Donbass, where there is currently war.” the Ukrainian President added.
More than 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of this year.
Amid Ukraine’s diplomatic action against Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba provided an assessment of the challenges Kyiv faces in a monthly video conference this week with European Union foreign ministers.
“Kyiv’s steps to resolve the conflict have no response from Moscow,” he said, adding “What is particularly worrying is the huge (Russian) military build-up near the Ukrainian border and in illegally annexed Crimea.”
It is recalled that yesterday the Russian Minister of Defence announced that he ordered Russian troops to return to their permanent bases following the huge exercises on the Ukrainian border that took place to a greater extent in the Crimea region.