KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed a press conference in Kyiv on Sunday, a day after the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Following are excerpts of his comments:
MILITARY LOSSES
"31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in this war. Not 300,000, not 150,000 ... Nevertheless, this is a big loss for us"
BATTLEFIELD
"Russia will prepare counter-offensive operations in early summer, or at the end of May if they can. They will prepare. We will prepare for their assault. Their assault that began on Oct. 8, has not brought any results, I believe. We, for our part, will prepare our plan and follow it."
"There is a plan (for new counteroffensive), the plan is clear, I can't tell you the details ... This plan is related to the change of management, there are corresponding changes."
"We need to prepare reserves. They haven't been prepared properly, and that's also a fact."
UNITY
"Now is the most difficult moment for our unity, and if we all fall apart, from the outside and God forbid inside, then this will be the weakest moment. It hasn't happened yet"
"The third year is a turning point. A year of elections, defocusing, everything at once, challenges from outside, from within ... I believe the format of how the war ends will depend on this year."
AID FROM THE US
"There is hope regarding Congress, and I'm sure it will be positive ... They know we need support within a month."
"When we talk about American aid, we must understand that this isn't a question of financial reserves, it's about weapons ... We'll just be weakened on the battlefield ... And here I don't have a reserve, we have the weapons that we have."
PEACE SUMMIT
"I hope it'll take place this spring. We mustn't lose this diplomatic initiative."
"We will offer a platform on which he (Putin) can agree that he lost this war and that it was a mistake. A big mistake."
BORDER BLOCKADE WITH POLAND
"It's unfair to use Ukraine to put pressure on European institutions."
"... we will protect our businesses."
LEGITIMACY AS PRESIDENT
"As for [questions about my] legitimacy, this isn't the opinion of Western partners or anyone inside Ukraine. This is the narrative and program of the Russian Federation."
"All the G7 intelligence agencies have the relevant documents. It's basically clear that this is a Russian programme. Everyone is against it [questioning my legitimacy], absolutely everyone."
(Compiled by Yuliia Dysa, reporting by Olena Harmash, Dan Peleschuk, Tom Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
