Zelenskyy is sure Putin's goal is to seize all of Ukraine, not just regions of country
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian president's goal in the war is to capture all of Ukraine, and not separate regions.
"I don't think that his goal is any territories. What we see, their actions, those strikes on civilian targets, intimidation of the civilian population of Ukraine with missiles, public statements by Putin's entourage, representatives of their intelligence, representatives of their troops and his himself. All these messages indicate that they have not completed the task and they will continue the mission," the president said in an interview with the Italian TV channel Rai 1.
This is how the president answered the question whether it is possible to agree with Putin on ending the war, suggesting that he leave only Crimea and Donbas within Russia.
Further, according to Zelenskyy, "they justify, excuse me, Hitler, they give examples with Poland, that it irritated Hitler, so he attacked. And they give the same, it seems, parallel with Ukraine and Russia."
"And all these messages, they say that his goal is not individual territories, his goal is the whole of Ukraine. We [with our partners] are sure that Putin will not be interested in just some territory, city, village, or Crimea, or Donbas. He is interested in the complete destruction of Ukraine, the annexation of all these lands of independent Ukraine to Russia," Zelenskyy said.
As the president noted, "Putin does such things either by force - with weapons, or politically."
"What he did in Belarus - without casualties and without blood. That is for now. That is, they [Russia and Belarus] are allied authorities, where he [Putin] completely controls the power bloc in the territory Belarus, and troops on the territory of Belarus. Proof of this is the attack on the very first night, when there was a full-scale invasion of Russia. This attack was from the territory of Belarus, missile attacks, troops, etc. That is, this is the diplomatic occupation of an independent country and the loss of sovereignty Belarus," he said.
In Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, Putin was diplomatically or politically unable to do this.
"In parliament there was his party [Opposition Platform – For Life] the second largest, and he completely influenced it and looked for opportunities to influence the parliament inside Ukraine. He failed, and after his political plan failed. He began the occupation by army. Therefore, he has no plan for Crimea or Donbas. This is just rhetoric. He has a plan to deprive Ukraine of independence," the president said.
