Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has ruled out ceding any land to Russia as part of a potential peace agreement.
In an interview with the BBC to commemorate a year since Russia's invasion, he cautioned that giving up land would allow Russia to "keep coming back," while Western weapons would advance the cause of peace.
A predicted spring offensive, according to Mr. Zelensky, has already started.
Attacks from Russia are already coming from various angles, he claimed.
Despite his repeated requests for more military support from the West, he does believe that Ukraine's forces can continue to hold back Russia's advance until they are able to launch a counteroffensive.
Modern weapons do, of course, hasten peace. Russia only speaks the language of weapons, Mr. Zelensky told the BBC.
In an effort to increase international support and request contemporary weapons to defend his nation, he met with UK and EU leaders last week. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak responded, "nothing is off the table," when the president of Ukraine requested modern fighter jets.
However, Kyiv has grown increasingly frustrated with the quick arrival of Western weapons. Battle tank deliveries, which a number of Western nations, including Germany, the US, and the UK, promised to make last month, are still expected to take several weeks to reach the front lines.
President Zelensky also addressed Alexander Lukashenko's threat to join Russian forces in a conflict from Belarus if even one Ukrainian soldier crossed the border.
He remarked, "I hope Belarus won't join [the war].". "If that happens, we'll fight to stay alive. It would be "a huge mistake" to permit Russia to once more use Belarus as a staging area for an assault, he continued.
From Belarus, Russian forces began a portion of their full-scale invasion one year ago. They advanced southward toward Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, but were repelled and forced to retreat within weeks after suffering significant casualties.
When asked if he was surprised by Russia's military strategy in the conflict, Mr. Zelensky called it "worthless.".
"How they completely demolished everything. They must share these values if their soldiers obeyed [and carried out] those orders. ".
Russian troops in Ukraine appear to be dying in greater numbers this month than at any other point since the first week of their invasion, according to Ukrainian data released this week. Although the numbers cannot be independently verified, the UK Ministry of Defense stated that the trends were "likely accurate.".
When asked how he believed the war would end, Mr. Zelensky responded, "Today, our survival is our unity.". "I think Ukraine is struggling to survive. He claimed that his nation was advancing economically and morally toward Europe.
"We went down this road. We need assurances of security. Any territorial concessions would erode our state's strength. ".
It's not really about compromise, he said. We make countless compromises every day; why would we be afraid of that?
"With whom is the question? With Putin? No. due to a lack of trust. Conversation with him? No. due to a lack of trust.
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