Ukrainian President Zelensky to EU Leaders: ‘This Might Be the Last Time You See Me Alive’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders he may not survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a video call on Thursday night, according to an Axios report.
“This might be the last time you see me alive,” Zelensky said on the call, which was held to discuss additional sanctions on Russia.
As fighting in Ukraine continued Friday, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to send a team to meet with Ukrainian officials for negotiations. Those negotiations would center around Zelensky’s proposal to discuss that Ukraine remain neutral with regards to NATO.
“Vladimir Putin is ready to send a Russian delegation to Minsk in response to Zelenskiy’s proposal,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Moscow Times.
But Putin also called on Ukraine’s armed forces to surrender in a speech on Friday that appeared to propose a coup of its government.
“Take power into your own hands,” he said, according to multiple reports. “It looks like it will be easier for us to make a deal with you than this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.”
Zelensky is the first Jewish president of Ukraine.
According to Axios, the Pentagon is now warning that Russia’s objective seems to be to surround the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and “decapitate” its government.
Zelensky said in a speech early Friday that he is the “number one” target of Russian forces.
“According to our information, the enemy marked me as the number one target,” he said. “My family is the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the Head of State.”
He said that despite the threat, he would remain in Kyiv.
“I know that a lot of fakes are being produced now. In particular, that I allegedly left Kyiv. I stay in the capital, I stay with my people,” he said. “During the day, I held dozens of international talks, directly managed our country. And I will stay in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine. My children are also in Ukraine. My family is not traitors. They are the citizens of Ukraine. But I have no right to say where they are now.”
