After setbacks for his army against Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was optimistic on Monday March 11, affirming that "Russia's advance has been stopped" and that the situation was "much better" on the front. .

In an interview with the French television channel BFMTV and the daily Le Monde, he declared: "I can give you the latest information: the situation is much better than during the last three months."

The Russian advance "continued in the east of the country, today our command, our soldiers have stopped it", he said, according to the French translation of his remarks.

“Your children are not going to die in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president continued, assuring that the sending of foreign troops was not necessary for the moment.

On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron said that sending troops to Ukraine in the future should not "be ruled out", sparking intense international controversy.

“As long as Ukraine holds, the French army can remain on French territory,” assured Volodymyr Zelensky.

“But if Putin manages to attack another NATO country, well, it is the NATO countries that would have to decide how, in what quantity, their army should be sent or not,” he said. he adds.

Emmanuel Macron "only wants that (...) Ukraine does not find itself alone", "he wanted to have a sort of union around Ukraine and I see no risk in that", the leader further affirmed of the Ukrainian state.

However, he pleaded for the sending of “technical personnel” for “the co-production” of French Caesar cannons or German Leopard tanks and for “training”.

“More than 1,000 kilometers” of defensive lines are built or being built on the front in Ukraine, he said, referring to a very complex task. In his daily video speech Monday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky has this once mentioned the figure of "2,000 km of work to strengthen existing fortifications and create new ones".

“Not a cent”

However, the fate of the war in Ukraine could depend, in the coming months, on the outcome of the American presidential election in early November. 

Returning to his country after a visit to the United States during which he met Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban affirmed that the former president and very likely Republican candidate had told him that he "would not give a cent" to Ukraine if he returned to the White House. 

"He has a very clear vision, with which it is difficult not to agree. He says this: first of all, he will not give a cent in the war between Ukraine and Russia," said Viktor Orban Sunday evening on the public channel M1.

“If the Americans do not pay money, the Europeans will not be able to finance this war alone. And therefore the war will be over”, because “it is obvious that Ukraine cannot get out of this on its own” , he added.

Donald Trump has "fairly detailed plans on how" to bring peace, according to Viktor Orban, who refused to reveal more.

Viktor Orban, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2023, refuses to send any military support to Ukraine and regularly calls for a ceasefire, convinced that kyiv cannot win.

"White flag"

A military defeat for kyiv against the Russian steamroller was also mentioned on Saturday by Pope Francis, who called on Ukraine to have "the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate" with Moscow. 

In protest, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the Vatican representative in kyiv had been summoned.

Ukrainian diplomacy accused the pope of "legalizing the rights of the strongest" and encouraging them to "continue to ignore international law."

“The head of the Holy See should have sent signals to the international community about the need to immediately unite forces to ensure the victory of good over evil, and appeal to the aggressor, not the victim” , Kiev further estimated.

With AFP

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