«They count us in square kilometers»: Zelenskyy on what to expect from the Russians

At present, the Russians want only to continue their offensive and «escalate the situation, ” and a ceasefire is not part of their plans at all. However, the more pressure U.S. President Donald Trump puts on Russia, the sooner it will be possible to move toward real negotiations and an end to the war.

This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a media briefing on Thursday, April 17.

«As for a comprehensive ceasefire — Ukraine is ready and supports it. We believe that Russia is not ready, because they are interested in launching several more waves of offensives. They want to seize more square kilometers, because that’s how they see us — they count us in square kilometers. And they want to do this in order to raise the stakes, ” the President said.

In his opinion, this is the scenario likely to unfold in the near future.

«We will see this in various formats of these waves — in offensive attacks, missile strikes, and so on — the Russians will escalate the situation as much as possible in order to be in a stronger position at the moment of final negotiations. The closer President Trump gets to imposing serious sanctions and serious measures against the Russians, at the very least because they do not support the idea of a social ceasefire, the weaker they will be, and the closer we all will be to a ceasefire, ” Zelenskyy concluded.