BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that his country is preparing a counteroffensive designed to liberate Russian-occupied areas, not to attack Russian territory.
Speaking during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s goal is to liberate the territories within its internationally recognized borders.
There are speculations that Ukraine may try to take the Russian areas right and use them as bargaining chips in possible peace negotiations to end the war launched by Moscow in February 2022.
Pressed by reporters on the issue, Zelenskyy said: “We are not attacking Russian territory, we are liberating our own legitimate territory.”
“We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia),” he said, according to an official translator. “And we have no weapons left either, where we can do it.”
“We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally defined legitimate borders, which are recognized around the world,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president is visiting allies in search of more weapons to help his country fend off a Russian invasion, and funds to rebuild the damage caused by more than a year of devastating conflict.
A Luftwaffe jet flew Zelenskyy to the German capital from Rome, where he met on Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni..
It is his first visit to Berlin since the start of the war and comes a day after the German government announced a new military aid package for Ukraine. worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.
Zelenskyy thanked Scholz for Germany’s political, financial and military support, saying the country is second only to the United States in providing aid to Ukraine – and joked that he was working to make it the biggest donor.
Scholz made it clear that Kyiv can expect German aid to continue to flow.
“We will support you as much as necessary,” he said, adding that it was up to Russia to end the war by withdrawing its troops.
After initially hesitated to give Ukraine lethal weaponsGermany became one of the largest suppliers of weapons in Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air-defense system. Modern Western hardware is considered essential if Ukraine is to succeed in its planned counter-offensive against Russian troops.
Zelenskyy first met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German head of state, who was snubbed in Kyiv last year.apparently because of his former close relationship with Russia, causing a chill in diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany.
Since then, Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have visited Ukraine, who assured Zelenskyy of their support in his country’s fight against the Russian invasion. Announcing the new weapons package, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin would help Ukraine “as far as necessary.”
After meeting Scholz and other senior chancellery officials, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen for Zelenskyy to receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine..
The organizers say that the award recognizes that their resistance against the Russian invasion is a defense “not only of the sovereignty of their country and the lives of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values”. “
While German leaders have expressed strong support for Ukraine, German voters are divided over whether the country should provide more weapons, especially advanced fighter jets of the type Kyiv is demanding from allies. this.
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