Biden promises to strengthen Kiev's military capabilities and strive to end the war

Zelensky: Peace with Russia means not giving up Ukraine's sovereignty and territory

The US President and his Ukrainian counterpart during their press conference at the White House.

A.F.B

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed, in a press conference with his US counterpart, Joe Biden, at the White House, that reaching a "just peace" with Russia means that there will be no concessions regarding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, after he received President Biden's support and pledge to strengthen Kiev's military capabilities. And the pursuit of a "just peace" to end Russia's war.

In response to his question about what he considers a just way to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities and towns, the Ukrainian president said, “I don’t know what a just peace is?

It is a very philosophical description.

"For me as president, a just peace means not compromising the sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity of my country," he added.

And pay for all the damage caused by the Russian war.”

But he went on to say that he did not see how there could be a just peace for parents whose children had been murdered.

In response to the same question, Biden said that the United States "has the same vision of a free, independent, prosperous, and secure Ukraine."

He added that he and Zelensky wanted to end the conflict, that he could stop "today if Russian President Vladimir Putin has any dignity at all" and withdraw his forces from Ukraine.

"But that won't happen," he added.

Biden said the United States and its allies and others will continue to arm Ukraine, so when Zelensky is ready to "talk to the Russians, he will also be able to succeed, because he will have won the battlefield."

The US President promised to "continue to enhance Ukraine's capabilities to defend" itself, while pledging to deliver the Patriot air defense system to it.

Biden confirmed that he was "not worried" about the strength of the Western alliance in the face of Russia.

"I have never seen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the European Union so united... Putin thought he would weaken NATO, on the contrary, he strengthened it," he said.

The Ukrainian president requested more heavy weapons from the United States, to help his country repel the Russian attack.

For its part, the Kremlin said the day before yesterday that it did not see any opportunity for peace talks with Kyiv, and that it would continue what Putin calls a "special military operation".

Putin pledged to strengthen Russia's military and nuclear capability, freeing himself from any responsibility for the "common Ukrainian tragedy".

And he announced, during a meeting on Wednesday with high-ranking officers, that new Russian hypersonic cruise missiles, "Zircon", were launched in "early January", and the possibility of increasing the number of the Russian army to 1.5 million military personnel.

In parallel, the Kremlin warned that any new supplies of US weapons to Ukraine would lead to an “exacerbation” of the conflict.

On the ground, the battles continued, and the Ukrainian army indicated that Russian attacks took place in the east and northeast of the country in particular.

"The Russian army continues to mobilize its efforts to launch attacks in Bakhmut and Avdiivka," in the east of the country, said the Ukrainian Army's Chief of Staff.

Yesterday, an army statement said that 100,400 Russian soldiers had been “dismissed.”

According to independent media, this may mean that they were killed or injured so badly that they were forced to leave military service.

Relatedly, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations will discuss via the Internet how to deal with the "Russian war on Ukraine," according to the Japanese government.

Kyodo news agency reported that the G7 ministers' talks come the day after the US President met his Ukrainian counterpart in Washington, and announced new military assistance to Ukraine, including the provision of the Patriot air defense system.

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