Russian military offensive - President Zelensky personally invites Xi and Biden to a peace conference.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a heartfelt plea to US President Joe Biden and China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping, urging them to attend a proposed peace summit in Switzerland this June.
Speaking against the devastating backdrop of a printing plant in Kharkiv that had been destroyed by a Russian missile attack, Zelenskyy said, "We don't want the UN Charter to be burned like these books here, and I hope you don't want that either." Zelenskyy's speech, which was broadcast in English on his Telegram channel, stressed that only global unity could compel Russia to seek genuine peace.
Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing for another attack. While Ukraine was still fighting off Russian ground assaults in the Kharkiv region, Russia was gathering additional troops just kilometers away, preparing to launch a new offensive further northwest, he revealed.
An imminent Russian offensive in the Sumy region is possible, according to military specialists. Such an operation would capitalize on Russia's numerical and material advantage, overstretch Ukrainian defenses, and ultimately lead to the collapse of the front or the conquest of more territory.
Zelenskyy asserted that Russia's attack planning and continued "terrorist" shelling of Ukrainian cities reveal its unwillingness to negotiate a genuine peace. At best, he claimed, the Kremlin would seek a temporary ceasefire, only to break it again using Russian missiles.
To persuade Russia to honor its commitments, global intervention is crucial, underscored Zelenskyy. Recounting Ukraine's past struggles with Russian deceptions, he said, "Lies that Russia used as an excuse to prepare for war."
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is nearly three years old. Just before the invasion, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared that Russia had never invaded another country in its history and had no intention of starting a war now.
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Source: www.stern.de
