Ukrainian forces in the southeastern port city of Mariupol are still fighting and have not given up, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Sunday.
“The city (Mariupol) has not yet fallen. There are still our military forces, our soldiers, so they will fight to the end, and for now, they are still in Mariupol,” Shmyhal said on ABC News’ “This Week” following Russia’s deadline for surrender Kyiv forces in the city spent on Sunday.
“No big city in Ukraine has fallen. Only Kherson is under the control of the Russian military forces, but the rest of the cities are under Ukrainian control,” he continued, adding that some of the surrounding cities were “besieged but still under Ukrainian control.”
He said that more than 900 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages have been liberated from Russian occupation since Moscow took control following the invasion began in late February.
“We are still fighting and we have a battle in the Donbas region at the moment, but we have no intention of giving up,” Shmyhal said.
In response to a question regarding the current state of diplomacy, he said that “Ukraine will prepare to stop this war” if a “diplomatic way” is possible.
However, if Russia was not ready for negotiations, he said: “We will not give up, we will not leave our country, our families, our land, we will absolutely fight to the end, to victory in this war.”
Shmyhal also thanked the United States and other partners for their support in providing ammunition, humanitarian and financial aid.
“We have a budget deficit of regarding $5 billion a month for all the months of the war. So we appreciate and are very grateful for any financial support from the United States and all of our international partners,” he said.
Ukraine will seek financial support from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the US Treasury at this week’s meetings in Washington, according to the prime minister.
