The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, yesterday put the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed since the beginning of the large-scale Russian military invasion at 31,000. It is the first time that the Ukrainian side has given a specific number of deaths in its own ranks.
“31,000 Ukrainians, military personnel, have died in this war,” Zelensky said when asked about the number of casualties. The number, he explained, does not include wounded or missing soldiers. “That’s a lot of people for us,” he said, rejecting estimates that put the Ukrainian death toll at up to 300,000.
The Ukrainian president did not want to give the number of wounded Ukrainian soldiers so as not to help Russia know the number of Ukrainians who have gone to the front. Zelensky also offered a number of Russian soldiers killed in this war. “180,000 Russians have died,” said the Ukrainian head of state. Another half a million Russian soldiers, he added, have been wounded in the fighting.
The Ukrainian president also said that “tens of thousands of civilians” have died or been murdered after being tortured in the Russian-occupied territories. Zelensky explained that the exact number will only be known when the war ends.
The Ukrainian president once again ruled out any negotiations with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, as long as he does not accept his defeat in the war. “Is it possible to talk to a deaf person? “Is it possible to talk to a person who kills his opponents?” Zelensky said about the possibility of seeking a negotiated solution to the war.
The Ukrainian president insisted on his Peace Formula – a document that demands, among other things, the withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory – as the only possible negotiating framework.
“We will offer [Putin] a way to accept that he has lost the war, and that it was a big mistake,” said Zelensky, who hopes to hold an international summit in Switzerland this spring so that as many countries as possible give their support to his Formula of Peace.
Once the support of these countries is obtained, Zelensky explained, the document will be presented to Putin, as was done with the grain agreement sponsored by Turkey and the UN. Putin agreed between July 2022 and July 2023 to allow the transit of grain through the Black Sea from Ukrainian ports, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on his agricultural sector.
The Ukrainian president recognized that his country needs to continue receiving military material from Washington, and stated that there is no alternative to the weapons produced in the United States. “First of all, when we talk about American aid, we must understand that it is not a question of financial reserves. It’s about weapons,” Zelensky said when asked if Ukraine will be able to resist during the coming months if US assistance is not unblocked.
The Ukrainian leader admitted that if Congress does not approve the $60 billion aid package proposed by the White House for this year, Ukraine will be “weakened on the battlefield.” “And here I can’t tell you what will happen. “I don’t have [a reservation option] here,” he added.
The Ukrainian president explained that his country can seek financing elsewhere, but that it would not find enough weapons outside the United States to cover its needs on the front. “For example, a Patriot [missile] system costs $1.5 billion, but it cannot be purchased without US help,” he said. “There are no systems like this in the world. And the alternative in the world exists in low quantities,” he added.
Regarding the pending aid package from the US Congress, Zelensky said he was “confident” in a positive solution, and insisted that both President Joe Biden and the two parties represented in that House know that Ukraine needs assistance to be unlocked before “ one month”.
