Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blasted Russian leader Vladimir Putin for using tactics akin to those of Adolf Hitler during World War II launching a shameful “3,500 missiles a month” at civilian targets.
Likening the illegal Kremlin invasion of his country to that of Nazi Germany on nations during the 1940s, Mr Zelensky accused warmongering Putin of using the “same manual” as Hitler.
Speaking to Italian channel Sky TG24, Mr Zelensky said “Russia uses 3,500 missiles per month. And for us it’s a big problem because they only use them on civilians.
“It is important that people understand that when they attack with drones and missiles they say that they are military targets, it is not true. In this way they want to make civilians flee to occupy the countries, to occupy the cities.
“The same thing was done by Hitler. It’s actually the same manual.”
Last week, Putin claimed there could be an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine if Russian forces were allowed to stay in four regions claimed by Moscow since 2022, and if Ukraine renounced any plans to join NATO.
The flimsy peace proposals were rejected by President Zelensky, who branded them an “ultimatum” by Putin to surrender more territory.
Broader demands for peace that Putin listed included Ukraine’s recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, keeping the country’s nonnuclear status, restricting its military force and protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population.
All of these should be part of “fundamental international agreements”, and all Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted, Putin said.
He added: “We’re urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general.”
Putin’s remarks, made to a group of somber Foreign Ministry officials and some senior lawmakers, represented a rare occasion in which he clearly laid out his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, but it didn’t include any new demands.
The Kremlin has said before that Kyiv should recognise its territorial gains and drop its bid to join NATO.
President Zelenskyy, who was in Italy for the G7 meeting this week, said Putin’s proposal was not new and was in the form of an “ultimatum”, comparing it to actions by Adolf Hitler in seizing territory before the outbreak of the Second World War.
He said: “What Putin demands is to give them a part of our territories, those occupied and not occupied, talking about several regions of our country.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg added that “this is not a peace proposal. This is a proposal of more aggression, more occupation, and it demonstrates in a way that that Russia’s aim is to control Ukraine.”
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