“Russians know: if we withdraw troops from Donbas, it will divide our nation. Many people will oppose this. If Ukraine’s unity is undermined, putin will come up with a new ‘blitzkrieg’ to very quickly occupy Ukraine”, - President Zelensky said in an interview for the podcast The Rest Is Politics, excerpts of which were published on his Telegram channel on April 10.
Zelensky is convinced that even if occupation does not occur in such a case, putin “…will use the further pause to recruit more people, train them, expand the military-industrial base, and achieve the lifting of sanctions”.
“Therefore, a ceasefire in the format ‘we stand where we stand’ is not only our desire, it is also in the interests of our partners”, - Zelensky said.