Zelensky on the Russian ultimatum to hand over Mariupol: “They have to eliminate us all to fulfill it”

the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskysaid today that his country cannot meet the ultimatum of Russia to hand over the strategic city of Mariupol because for this the Russian forces would have to destroy the Ukrainian people.

“Ukraine will not be able to meet the ultimatum. We won’t be able to do it physically. How can this be done? They would have to eliminate us all and then their ultimatum will automatically be fulfilled.“, said Zelensky in an interview with European media, an excerpt from which was published by the Ukrainian digital “Obschestvennoye”, reports Ukrinform.

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the president of ukraine he pointed: “For example, give us Kharkiv, give us Mariupol, give us kyiv. Neither the inhabitants of Mariupol, nor the people of kyiv can do this.”

He added that even in cities already occupied by the Russians, such as Melitopol or Berdyansk, “When they (Russian troops) come in, people don’t give up. (The Russians) raise the flag, people lower it. They killed a man, yes, the people hid, but at night they came out and took down the flag again. What do you want? Destroy us all? We can fulfill the ultimatum only when we are no longer here”, emphasized the head of the Ukrainian state.

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The port city of Mariupolin the southeast of Ukrainefocuses the attention of the war with Russiain a siege that has been going on for days and that seems to be prolonged.

Some 400,000 people have been trapped in Mariupol for more than two weeks amid heavy bombardment that has cut off central supplies of electricity, heat and water, according to local sources.

Russia He called this Sunday for the Ukrainian forces to surrender and leave “without weapons” Mariupolsomething that kyiv described as “delirium”.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said today that the Mariupol resistance, heavily bombed by the Russians for days, is “saving” other cities, such as Dnipro, kyiv and Odessa, from the intensification of an offensive against them.

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Source: Elcomercio

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