Ukraine will break off negotiations with Russia if Ukrainian troops in the city of Mariupol are eliminated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, 1,160 Ukrainian soldiers, including 176 officers, of the 36th Marine Brigade surrendered in Mariupol. The Russian Defense Ministry said it was ready to allow all Ukrainian troops to withdraw through humanitarian corridors and promised to spare Ukrainian nationalists who agree to lay down arms. The Ukrainian side declined the offer.
"Mariupol is, perhaps, like ten Borodyankas and I would like to say that elimination of our boys will put an end to all talks," Zelenskyy said, as quoted by Ukrainian news website Strana.ua.
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Zelenskyy has threatened to withdraw from the ongoing peace negotiations with Russia if Ukrainian fighters trapped in the port city of Mariupol are killed by Russian forces besieging the city.
ReplyDelete“What they are doing right now … could put a stop to any form of negotiation,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with a Ukrainian news website.
“There are troops there who absolutely hate them, and I don’t think they will let them live,” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to the fact that many of the fighters trapped in the city are part of the nationalist-dominated Azov Batallion.