Zelensky says it’s a ‘pity’ Biden and the West’s support came after the war started and the ‘end of the world has arrived’ in defiant news conference as US warns 90% of Putin’s border forces have now crossed into Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used a press conference on Thursday to demand more help
- He appealed to NATO to set up a no-fly zone to prevent Russian warplanes bombing his cities
- And he again criticized the West for waiting until Putin invaded Ukraine before imposing the stiffest sanctions
- ‘It’s a pity it began after the beginning of this war, but we have it,’ he said, thanking Biden and others for help
- He spoke as Russia poured more troops into Ukraine after suffering a week of setbacks
- A Pentagon official said Russia had now sent 90 percent of its massed combat forces over the border
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US and the West had acted too late to protect his country from Russian might and described how ‘the end of the world has arrived’ during a news conference on Thursday.
He delivered a defiant message to reporters in his capital Kyiv as fighting entered its second week.
A Pentagon official said Russia has now sent almost all its assembled combat power across the border into Ukraine, while reports suggested they were gaining ground across the south.
Zelensky repeated his plea for a NATO no-fly zone to protect his cities and troops.
And eight days into the war he said he now had good lines of communication with the President Joe Biden and other leaders, but lamented that they only stepped up their support once Russia launched its invasion.
‘It’s a pity it began after the beginning of this war, but we have it. And my appreciation to [Biden] and to his team. We can speak now often,’ he said
‘The whole world is late with Ukraine, making decisions.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US and the West had acted too late to protect his country from Russian might and described how ‘the end of the world has arrived’ during a news conference on Thursday
Pictured: A map showing the Kyiv region and the area occupied by Russian troops as they close in on Ukraine’s capital
A Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in Sytniaky, west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Russia continues its assault on Ukraine’s major cities as fighting entered its second week
Passers-by inspect past a destroyed Russian military vehicle at a frontline position in Irpin, Ukraine. Ukrainian resistance has been credited with stalling the Russian advance
Zelensky and his allies had urged the West to step up financial sanctions on Moscow as Vladimir Putin massed his troops on the border with Ukraine to deter an invasion.
But the White House and allies stepped up its pressure only after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.
Now his country was fighting for survival, said Zelensky.
‘The end of the world has arrived,’ he said.
After saying the world had been too slow to act, he called on Western leaders to step up their support now with a no-fly zone that would deny access to Russian warplanes.
He said the world was too slow to offer support for Ukraine and prodded Western leaders to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to deny access to Russian warplanes that were bombing civilian areas.
‘We want a no-fly zone because our people are being killed. From Belarus, from Russia — these missiles, these Iskander missiles and bomber planes, are coming,’ Zelensky said.
‘I asked President Biden, and Scholz and Macron…and I said, if you can’t provide a no-fly zone right now, then tell us when?’
Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said ‘armed visitors’ had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin’s men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine’s main naval port, to attack – with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today
The White House and and NATO allies have ruled out a move that would directly pit its warplanes against Russian forces.
Zelensky also challenged Putin to sit down for talks.
In a sarcastic reference to a the size of table Putin used for meetings with other foreign leaders, he said: ‘Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters.
‘I don’t bite. What are you afraid of?’
Foreign leaders have hailed the spirit of the Ukrainian resistance, which is credited with slowing or stopping the Russian advance.
But that has only prompted Putin and his generals to double down.
Russia has accelerated the arrival of troops into Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, with 90 percent of the assembled troops now having crossed into Ukraine.
More than 150,000 troops, along with tanks, aircraft, armored vehicles carriers and missile systems had gathered around the borders ahead of the invasion.
The result was a day of fierce fighting.
The mayor of Mariupol said hours of shelling and besieging Russian troops ahd cut off power, food and water to his city.
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