Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on the possibility of a new world war and stressed that “it is clear who will win” in the conflict with Russia.
In his speech on November 10 at the Golden Globe film awards ceremony, President Zelensky said: “World War I killed millions of people. World War II took the lives of tens of millions of people. There won’t be World War III. It won’t be a multi-part movie.”
The Ukrainian leader said that the war between his country and Russia is not over, but the tide is reversing, and “it is clear which side will win”. Mr. Zelensky did not elaborate on this statement.
“I can tell you who was the best last year. It was you, the people of the free world, who united in support of the free Ukrainians,” he said.
Since hostilities broke out with Russia last February, Mr. Zelensky has spoken at various cultural events to call for support for Ukraine, including film awards ceremonies.
His speech yesterday took place in the context that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is still raging on the front lines and the prospect of negotiating to end the conflict is still quite vague.
Late last month, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that global tensions would become unstoppable until Russia received security guarantees.
“If we don’t have the right security guarantees, tensions will go on forever. The world will continue to stand on the brink of World War III and a nuclear disaster. We will do everything to prevent it. prevent the above scenario from happening,” he said.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron called that the future security architecture for Europe after the crisis in Ukraine should include security guarantees for Russia.
Mr. Medvedev then said that Russia has nothing to negotiate with the West because trust has been eroded and events taking place in 2022 have eliminated the opportunity for the parties to have a dialogue based on trust.
On December 1, 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any conflict between nuclear-weapon states, even if it begins with conventional weapons, has the potential to escalate. into a full-blown nuclear war. Therefore, this scenario should be avoided at all costs.
In addition, the Kremlin has repeatedly warned that the transfer of new weapons to Kiev by Western countries “will aggravate the conflict”.
Meanwhile, President Zelensky proposed a peaceful formula, including ensuring nuclear and radiological security; food and energy security; releasing all prisoners; complying with the Charter of the United Nations, restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the world order; Russia must withdraw its troops and cease hostilities, avoid escalation of tensions and pay reparations for war damage.
The Kremlin insists that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine can only begin if Kiev shows the political will to discuss Moscow’s demands.
