Kiev receiving cluster bombs would hasten counteroffensive: Zelensky
3 Min Read
The Ukrainian President claims that if Ukrainian forces were to reach the administrative borders of Crimea, the Russian President would be obliged to seek dialogue.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sings Ukraine’s national anthem during an event (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev receiving cluster bombs would allow Ukrainian forces to hasten their counteroffensive against Russia.
On Friday, the United States announced that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time, but according to Ukrainian officials, Kiev wants its allies to provide it with F-16 fighter jets and other equipment.
Commenting on former US President Donald Trump's claims that he can resolve the ongoing war in Ukraine in 24 hours, Zelensky told ABC's Martha Raddatz in an interview that "it looks as if Donald Trump had already these 24 hours once in his time we were at war not a full-scale war but we were at war."
"If we are talking about ending the war at the cost of Ukraine, in other words to make us give up our territories, well I think in this way Biden could have brought it to an end even in 5 minutes, but we would not agree," he added.
He considered that if Ukrainian forces were to reach the administrative borders of Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be obliged to seek dialogue.
Touching on Ukraine's accession to NATO, Zelensky alleged that his country incorporates the US-led military alliance's values.
"Ukraine has already got a place in the world for itself. We are now a country that is respected a country that is really fighting for human values, for human rights, for freedom, for democracy and everyone has already understood that it is exactly such a country [that] will be a valued NATO country partner with actually the strongest armed forces in Europe," he said.
However, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) revealed in a report in late June that the United Nations has recorded a significant increase in law violations by Ukrainian forces since the start of the war in Ukraine.
According to the report, dozens of civilians were tortured "in official pre-trial detention facilities."
"Methods included beatings, electrocution with tasers, sexual violence, including beating of sexual and reproductive organs, forced nudity, threats of genital mutilation and rape against detainees or their loved ones, threats of execution, threats with loaded guns of being shot in the limbs, and threats of being brought to the front line and abandoned there," the OHCHR report detailed.
As for EU accession, Zelensky indicated that "it will take some time" after the end of the war.
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