{"id":32505,"date":"2026-08-24T09:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/32505\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T09:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:26:18","slug":"ukraine-wants-peace-but-wont-give-in-zelensky-says-on-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/32505\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine wants peace but won\u2019t give in, Zelensky says on Independence Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky awaits international guests at the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in Kyiv on Aug. 23.TETIANA DZHAFAROVA\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ukraine wants peace but will not just give in to Russia at any price, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday in a defiant speech marking Independence Day celebrations.<\/p>\n

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and European Council President Antonio Costa were among foreign leaders and dignitaries who arrived in Kyiv for events on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine\u2019s break from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Burnham was scheduled to co-chair a meeting of the \u201cCoalition of the Willing\u201d \u2013 a group of countries backing Ukraine \u2013 later on Monday during his first visit to the Ukrainian capital as prime minister. <\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine absolutely wants peace, but it\u2019s not ready to simply surrender,\u201d Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram showing him standing in a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt in the square in front of the golden-domed St Michael\u2019s monastery in Kyiv where burned-out Russian tanks are on show.<\/p>\n

He said Russia\u2019s demand \u2013 repeatedly rejected by Ukraine \u2013 that Kyiv cede the remaining part of the eastern Donbas area that is not in Russian hands after 4-1\/2 years of war would not be enough to stop Russian aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not let them (Russians) seize the initiative, deceive Europe and the entire world into thinking that we simply need to give up Donbas and everything will be over soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and swathes of Ukrainian territory have been laid waste, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb.24, 2022.<\/p>\n

U.S.-led peace talks to bring a lasting end to the war stalled earlier this year as Ukraine refused Russia\u2019s demands to cede more territory, and fighting rages along a 1,200-kilometre frontline. <\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s advances on the battlefield have slowed this year and Ukraine has recaptured some land in the southeast. However, Moscow\u2019s forces are threatening the strategic eastern city of Kostiantynivka in the eastern region of Donetsk \u2013 which forms part of Donbas, together with the Luhansk region. <\/p>\n

Exploiting Ukraine\u2019s critical shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, Russia has also stepped up its campaign of air strikes at cities far from the front line this summer.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has also increased its long-range attacks on Russian refineries and logistics infrastructure, aimed at undermining Moscow\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to the people and soldiers defending Ukraine in the war, Zelensky also called on allies to give it \u201ceverything\u201d needed to stop the war.<\/p>\n

Urging them to bring Russia to the negotiating table and hit it with more sanctions, Zelensky said he hoped that \u201call the contradictions and fears\u201d the United States has regarding Russia will disappear. <\/p>\n

\u201cChina must no longer remain silent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Other dignitaries present for the celebrations included Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Moldova\u2019s President Maia Sandu and Estonia\u2019s President Alar Karis, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, posting photos of the officials arriving at the Kyiv station.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky awaits international guests at the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[273,255,274,247,245,275,272,244,262,263,258,246,243,268,270,267,261,253,286,248,249,260,256,257,251,276,252,281,282,284,279,283,277,280,250,265,266,79,264,278,254,269,271,259,85,81,285],"class_list":["post-32505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}