Zelenskyy makes rare trip outside Kyiv, visits forces on the front in Kharkiv
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited with Ukrainian troops Sunday on the front lines in the Kharkiv region, touring damaged buildings in a bulletproof vest during a rare trip beyond Kyiv.
Ukraine has repelled Russian troops from Kharkiv’s capital, and life in the bombed-out city is gradually returning to normal. Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the city’s northeast has been static, according to military analysts. Nonetheless, in a sign of the continued threat, Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne said witnesses reported shelling in northern parts of the city Sunday.
In an interview with CNN, Zelenskyy said he is doubtful that Russia is serious about negotiating an end to the war, saying he “can’t see their willingness.” He also said the invasion’s duration depends in part on the West’s willingness to keep supporting Ukraine. In an interview with Dutch TV channel NOS, Zelenskyy said it is impractical for Ukraine to use force to regain all territory lost to Russia since 2014.
Ukrainian forces in the eastern city of Severodonetsk – a flash-point in the three-month-old conflict – are experiencing an “indescribably difficult” situation as Russian troops are “storming the city,” Zelenskyy said in separate remarks. It is the last major city in the Luhansk region that is not under Russian occupation.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has agreed to a new three-year contract with Russia’s Gazprom to supply natural gas after a phone call with President Vladimir Putin. Serbia, a traditional ally of Russia, remains entirely dependent on Russia for gas supplies and has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.
Professionalism in the Russian army is “eroding,” which may be detrimental to Putin’s chances of winning the war, the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment.
Russia has claimed its forces control the key transport hub of Lyman, which Western officials have said would give Russia an advantage in the potential next phase of the Donbas offensive. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces have probably captured most of the city, but Ukraine has yet to confirm Russian control.
Turkey remains to be persuaded that it should back NATO membership bids from Sweden and Finland, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
Talks with the two countries last week in Ankara “were not at the desired level,” he told reporters. It is unclear when further meetings might take place. NATO will hold a summit in Madrid at the end of June, and Turkey has said there is “no time pressure” to include NATO’s secretary general in discussions of the issue ahead of that meeting.
Finland and Sweden abandoned decades-long military neutrality and applied to join NATO earlier this month, citing security concerns as Russia continues its war in Ukraine. But any decision on admitting new members requires unanimity from NATO’s 30 nations, and Turkey has raised concerns about the presence in Sweden and Finland of activists from the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other groups living in the neighboring Nordic countries.
“We cannot repeat the mistakes made in the past on [admitting] countries that embrace and feed such terrorists into NATO, which is a security organization,” Erdogan said in remarks made public Sunday. Turkey, the United States and the European Union have labeled the PKK a terrorist group.
Last week, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that “we understand that Turkey has some of their own security concerns vis-a-vis terrorism and so forth.”
“We think that we have good answers for those because we are also part of the fight against the terrorism. So, we think that this issue can be settled,” Haavisto said.
Sweden has denied giving “financial assistance or military support” to Kurdish militants.
Erdogan added that he would have separate telephone conversations Monday with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. “We will continue to encourage the parties to operate channels of dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
Russia’s ambassador in Britain on Sunday ruled out the Kremlin’s use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, saying such weapons are “not used in conflicts like that at all.”
In an interview airing Sunday morning on the BBC, Andrei Kelin said Russia has a “very strict provision on the issue of the use of tactical nuclear weapons,” adding that Russian doctrine allows their use mainly when “the existence of the state is endangered.”