Zelenskyy announces next stage of war with Russia: "No step backward"

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was in a new stage of war with Russia, which launched an attack on February 24, 2022.

 “We now see that we are not retreating. Today it is already a new stage. Somewhere we are standing, some territories are blocked, there we are waiting for the appropriate equipment from our side so that we can press and move forward, and in some territories, we are moving forward. Therefore, no a step backward,” RBC-Ukraine quotes Zelenskyy as saying.

Zelenskyy added that all couldn’t take place at once and the appropriate steps need to be initially taken to stop the war, and then diplomacy will take effect.

“Today it is desirable to make the first stage, it was, and we did it - to stop Russia, its offensive. We did it. The second stage is to make sure as much as possible that Russia leaves our territory. Now we are in the second stage,” he said.

The third stage, according to Zelenskyy, will be the maximum restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

“Where you can find certain compromises, thanks to dialogue in words, and not with weapons, there Ukraine will do it, but showing its position as an equal partner in any dialogue,” Zelenskyy concluded.