Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky told a news conference on Thursday that Russia was attacking.
Zelensky, who has been giving courage to the Ukrainian people by releasing videos in unofficial attire since the Russian invasion, met with representatives of the international media in similar attire.
According to The New York Times, journalists had to cross several roadblocks to reach the president’s office. They are designed to intercept Russian tanks.
According to the Times, sandbags were placed on the windows of Jelensky’s office inside the presidential palace.
During the press conference, armed security personnel stood together. Jansky said he now sleeps only three hours a night.
Zelensky, who has a bushy beard and looks tired, praised Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion.
“I am strong and decisive because of the courage of the Ukrainians,” he said.
He said he was ready to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I do not want to talk to Putin,” he said. There is no other way to stop this war. ‘
He says he is ready to compromise on anything other than Ukraine’s sovereignty.
He said that since the Russians had already prepared the answers to all the questions, it was not possible to come up with something new through negotiations.
He said Western nations should continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. He also called on France and Germany to declare Ukraine a no-fly zone.
Zelensky is fighting with Putin to become president from a comedian
Three years ago, there was an election atmosphere in Ukraine, an Eastern European country. Volodymyr Zelensky drew worldwide attention by running in Ukraine’s directly elected presidential system.
Zelensky, who was only 41 at the time, was popular not only because he was young, but also because he was the country’s executive director in a television series. Opposition groups called for a boycott of the event.
Zelensky was a popular Ukrainian comedian. Due to his popularity, he was elected the sixth president of Ukraine with 73 percent of the vote.
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who was defeated by Zelensky at the time, said a new inexperienced Ukrainian president would soon fall into the Russian sphere of influence.
Three years later, Poroshenko’s statement has been proven wrong. Zelensky is not in the sphere of Russian influence, but Russia has sent troops to bring Ukraine under its influence. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to overthrow Zelensky’s government in Kyiv and form a government of his own accord.
Zelensky, who is taking office for the first time, is facing one of the largest military strikes in Europe since World War II. Ukraine, a small country, is currently at war with Russia, one of the world’s most powerful nations.
Zelensky will have to fight the onslaught of more than 200,000 Russian troops by water, land, and air alone. Leaders of world powers have reassured him that “we are”, but neither the United States nor the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will send troops to fight Russian troops in Ukraine.
Zelensky is well aware that he was the first target of the Russian invasion. “They made me their first target,” he said Friday. Then they will kill my family. By assassinating the head of state, they want to destroy Ukraine politically.
Zelensky says he will not leave Ukraine.
“I will stay in the capital and my family will stay in Ukraine,” he said.
Jelensky’s presidential visit
Zelensky, who coincidentally broke the Ukrainian aristocracy and became president in a comedy teleserial called Servant of the People, was interpreted by Ukrainians as a symbol of anti-establishment.
The then President Poroshenko came to power in 2014 with anti-Russian slogans after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. But even during his tenure, there was widespread dissatisfaction with Ukraine’s poor living standards and growing government corruption. The same dissatisfaction was echoed by Jelensky.
He made the issues of the daily life of the common man his agenda.
After the victory, he said, “As a Ukrainian citizen, I can tell the post-Soviet countries. Look at us, anything is possible.”
After becoming president, Zelensky strengthened relations with the EU and the West. He had instructed the government officials to keep a picture of his child instead of the president. Despite his lack of experience, he was running the presidency well.
Although he did not disappoint supporters in Ukraine, Zelensky did not prove himself in the geopolitical game. Russia launched a military strike on Ukraine on Thursday.
History has it that Russia and President Putin attacked a small neighbor, but now Jelensky is seen as Ukraine’s weakest president.
What does Putin want from Ukraine?
The current tensions between Russia and Ukraine are linked not only to the history of the two countries but also to the geopolitics between Russia and the West.
On January 14, some Russian hackers hacked Ukrainian government websites. On a website visited by millions of people, he wrote, “Fear and be prepared for the worst.”
By the time the hackers took control of the website, about 100,000 Russian troops had surrounded Ukraine from three sides. Today, some 200,000 Russian troops are stationed in the war-torn country, including field hospitals.
Meanwhile, troops from Russia’s “Battalion Tactical Group” have arrived in Belarus, north of Ukraine, for joint military exercises.
Belarus, which shares a border with Russia, is its “friend.” Alexander Lukashenko is a dictator in Belarus, just as Vladimir Putin is in Russia. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 27 years, called Putin during a protest rally in July last year.
Like Belarus, Putin wants Ukraine to have its satellite state. Until 1991, Ukraine was a similar nation. Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union in August 1991. The Russians do not regard Belarusians and Ukrainians as citizens of another country but as their brothers and sisters. He says the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the mother of all cities in the Soviet Union.
Recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states, Putin said Ukraine was an important part of Russian history.
If Kyiv’s power goes out of its control, the Russians will not tolerate it. The same thing happened in 2014.
Protests erupted in 2013 after then-President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union. He was later removed from power. He sought Russia’s help. There were demonstrations in different parts of the country for and against him. During the protests in Crimea, protesters carried Russian flags and shouted “Putin is our president.” A few days later, Russia invaded Crimea. This is the first time in the last decade that a country has annexed another country’s land by military force.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea has fueled anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine. Petro Poroshenko became president with anti-Russian slogans. Ukraine became closer to the West when comedian Volodymyr Zelensky became president in 2019. Recently, Ukraine is preparing to join the European Union (EU). Ukraine is preparing to apply for EU membership by 2024.
Ukraine is reportedly preparing to join not only the EU but also the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Ukraine has also become a member of NATO. Russia and Ukraine share a 1,200-mile border.
Putin does not want Ukraine to become a member of the EU or NATO at any cost.
