Kiev.- Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky warned on Saturday that “the elimination” of Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol, a city besieged by Russia, “would put an end to any peace negotiations” with Moscow.
He also warned that both sides would find themselves at a “dead end”.
In terms of deaths, “Mariupol can be ten times Borodianka,” a small Ukrainian town near kyiv attacked and destroyed by Russian soldiers, Zelensky said.
“How many more [casos como el de] Borodianka present themselves, the more difficult it will be” to negotiate, he stressed.
“To be honest, we don’t have any confidence in the Mariupol negotiations,” Zelensky stressed.
After the Ukrainian army announced on April 11 that it was preparing for “one last battle” in this southeastern city, Ukraine’s president admitted a “very difficult situation”.
“Our soldiers are surrounded and, despite everything, they continue to defend themselves,” he said.
“This means death for some of us and captivity for others,” the 36th Marine Brigade posted on Facebook.
The next day, the Ukrainian authorities said that the fighting left between 20,000 and 22,000 dead in Mariupol, a strategic city where 441,000 people lived in peacetime.
Forty days following it began, the fighting is now concentrated in the vast industrial zone of Mariupol, near the Sea of Azov.
“Contact” is maintained with the Ukrainian forces on the spot, Zelensky said.
“It is a humanitarian crisis, there is no food, water or medicine,” he added, accusing Russia of “rejecting” the creation of humanitarian corridors.
Negotiations have been deadlocked for several days.
They are “extremely difficult,” an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, said on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, accused the Ukrainian negotiators of “lack of coherence”.
On Saturday, Zelensky claimed to want a peace treaty with Moscow consisting of “two separate documents.”
“One of them will refer to security guarantees for Ukraine, the other (will refer) directly to its relations with Russia.”
In this first document, Ukraine’s security would be guaranteed by some countries “that have shown” their interest, such as “the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Turkey,” he stated in the same interview with the Ukrainian media.
“Moscow would like to have a single treaty… but not all states want to discuss with Russia,” the Ukrainian president added.
