By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine will not betray the sacrifices made by its people in four years of war just to make peace with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Tuesday, as divisions among his key allies overshadowed commemorations of the start of the conflict.
European nations had hoped to agree a fresh package of sanctions against Russia as well as a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine but Hungary, which maintains close ties with Moscow, had on Monday kept up its veto on both.
Hungary and neighbouring Slovakia accuse Kyiv of deliberately blocking Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, which Ukraine says it is trying to repair after a Russian strike last month.
EUROPEAN GUESTS BUT NOT LEADERS DUE AT KYIV CEREMONIES
Zelenskiy was due to welcome dignitaries from Western Europe, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Kyiv for ceremonies to mark the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. But in contrast to previous years, no major Western leaders were expected.
“Putin has not achieved his goals. He has not broken the Ukrainian people. He has not won this war,” Zelenskiy said in a morning address, extending an invitation to U.S. President Donald Trump to come to Kyiv:
“Only by visiting Ukraine and seeing our lives and struggles with your own eyes … can you understand what this war is really about.”
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides have died or been wounded in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two. Russian forces have also killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and destroyed Ukrainian cities with years of missiles and drone strikes.
Ongoing peace talks with Russia, brokered by the United States, appear to have stalled over the question of territory.
Moscow, which is advancing painfully slowly on the battlefield, insists that Ukraine must cede the final 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk – while Kyiv is adamant it will not relinquish land that thousands have died to defend.
“We want peace: strong, dignified, lasting peace,” Zelenskiy said, adding that he had told peace negotiators: “Do not nullify all these years, do not devalue all the struggle, courage, dignity, everything that Ukraine has gone through. We cannot, we must not, give it away, forget it, betray it.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that Russia had paid a heavy price for small territorial gains in Ukraine: “One day, Russians will grasp the enormity of the crime committed in their name.”
Polish President Karol Nawrocki, also on X, said Russia’s aggression against Ukraine posed a serious threat to the security of Europe: “We look with respect upon the courage of people who stand up for freedom every day.”
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Kevin Liffey)
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