Have the article read by OpenAI (Beta). Please note that AI translations may take some time to process.Brussels (dpa) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the 1,000th day of the full-scale Russian invasion of his country with a call to push Moscow towards “a just peace.”
Zelensky said that Russian President Vladimir Putin lacked the “real motivation” to engage in genuine peace negotiations in a video address to the European Parliament to thank Ukraine’s supporters.
He pushed for harsher sanctions on Russian ships transporting oil as well as more weapons to hit Russian military targets like ammunition depots to push Putin towards the negotiating table.
The Ukrainian president warned that Putin, in pursuit of victory, could increase the deployment of North Korean troops on Ukraine’s borders from 11,000 to 100,000.
Zelensky also criticised European leaders for their focus on winning elections “at Ukraine’s expense” while Putin is focused on winning the war, a pointed message to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. On Friday, Scholz spoke to Putin on the phone for the first time in two years.
“A thousand days of war is a tremendous challenge,” Zelensky said, praising the European Union and Ukraine’s achievement in defending their values. “Ukraine deserves to make the next year, the year of peace,” he finished, to applause from the EU legislators assembled for the special sitting.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, relations between the European Union and Ukraine and its potential accession to the bloc quickly gained momentum. The country was granted EU candidate status in June 2022 and membership negotiations were opened in June 2024. (19 November)
The editorial responsibility for the publication lies with dpa.