KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Tuesday for a “fair” end to the war with Russia without “rewards” for Vladimir Putin, pushing back against demands for Kyiv to make territorial concessions.
“We all want this war to end in a fair way — with no rewards for Putin, especially no land,” Zelensky said via videoconference at a summit organized by Poland.
The comment comes amid reports the United States suggested to freeze the front lines and accept the Russian control of the Crimean peninsula that it seized in 2014, something Zelensky has refused.
But US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he believed Zelensky might concede the Black Sea peninsula as part of a settlement.
Russia has also repeatedly demanded to keep the territory in southern and eastern Ukraine that it occupies and for Kyiv to cede even more land.
Moscow holds about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory after launching its grinding assault that has killed thousands of people.
Washington has said that this week will be “critical” for peace efforts.
Zelensky later on Tuesday once again called for a full and unconditional ceasefire, which must be the first step before any negotiations.
“They must take clear steps to end the war, and we insist that an unconditional and complete ceasefire must be the first step,” he said in an evening address.
Putin on Monday ordered a surprise three-day ceasefire on May 8-10, which coincides with Moscow’s World War II commemorations, drawing ire from Kyiv, which demanded Moscow pause hostilities immediately.
“Right now, they are worried that their parade is in jeopardy, and rightly so,” Zelensky said in his evening address, “but they should be worried that this war is still going on,” he added.
This year, Russia will mark on May 9 the 80th anniversary of its Victory Day for what is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War with massive parades in Moscow and cities across the country.
Zelensky calls for fair peace with no ‘rewards’ for Putin
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Zelensky calls for fair peace with no ‘rewards’ for Putin
- “We all want this war to end in a fair way — with no rewards for Putin, especially no land,” Zelensky said
- Zelensky later on Tuesday once again called for a full and unconditional ceasefire
UN chief calls on Israel to reverse NGOs ban in Gaza
- In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out
- Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials
UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the development.
Guterres “calls for this measure to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the suspension risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire,” his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” he added.
Israel on Thursday suspended 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they had refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials.
The ban includes Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has 1,200 staff members in the Palestinian territories — the majority of whom are in Gaza.
NGOs included in the ban have been ordered to cease their operations by March 1.
Several NGOS have said the requirements contravene international humanitarian law or endanger their independence.
Israel says the new regulation aims to prevent bodies it accuses of supporting terrorism from operating in the Palestinian territories.
On Thursday, 18 Israel-based left-wing NGOs denounced the decision to ban their international peers, saying “the new registration framework violates core humanitarian principles of independence and neutrality.”
A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out.
Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data, leaving infrastructure decimated.
About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.
