President Zelenskyy in Hungary: Ukraine Needs Weapons, Not Support in Negotiations
At the summit in Budapest, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine needs a sufficient number of weapons, not support in negotiations with Russia.
This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to Zelenskyy's statement at the summit of the European Political Community in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
‘I thank you all for supporting Ukraine and our people. We are defending ourselves not from Russian words, but from Russian attacks. That is why we need enough weapons, not support in negotiations. Hugging Putin will not help. Some of you have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only getting worse,’ Zelenskyy said.
He added that Russian leader Vladimir Putin ‘thinks only of wars and will not change. Only pressure can deter him.’
‘We have built a clear diplomatic system that can push Russia to a just peace. Most of the countries represented here have joined this work for the sake of effective diplomacy. Each point of the Peace Formula has already been discussed at thematic conferences. Nuclear security, food security, energy, the return of prisoners and deportees to Ukraine, full compliance with international law, and much more. We need to push Russia to do this. And a just peace will be our common victory. The victory plan is on your table. Therefore, Ukraine was the first to propose to change our common strategy in order to achieve a just peace as soon as possible,’ the President said.
He stressed that the war was taking place on Ukrainian soil.
‘Ukraine is grateful for all the support from our partners, we are open to any constructive ideas to achieve a just peace for our country. But it is Ukraine that must decide what should and should not be on the agenda to end this war,’ Zelenskyy said.
He also emphasised that ‘the bill for this war should be presented to the Russians, not to Ukraine’.
‘So that Russia can no longer make its false claims to everyone around it - from the Baltic States to the Balkans. Any country, any leader who respects international law and sits at this table must understand that predators always demand more and more prey,’ the Head of State addressed the audience.
He also added that ‘during this war, we have seen the failure of certain European approaches’.
‘For example, the closer a country is to Russia, the weaker the concept of neutrality becomes. The rapid accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO has shown how European and Allied leaders actually imagine guaranteed security - not in words, but through NATO. Ukraine has taken note of this,’ Zelenskyy said.
On 7 November, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Budapest for the European Political Community Summit, where he was invited by President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of Hungary, which holds the EU presidency, Viktor Orban.