President Zelensky: the contact line in Donbass will disappear when we remove it from our heads
Vladimir Zelensky. Photo: Stephanie Lecocq / Pool / Reuters
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his New Year address to fellow citizens named his main goal. A video with congratulations in Ukrainian was published on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian leader's address lasted over 22 minutes. It became a record longest. According to Zelensky, the main goal of his presidency is to end the war in Donbass.
And, unfortunately, we have not yet ended the war in the east of our state. And this is my main goal. That is why I say goodbye. Because the next year will definitely be better!
Volodymyr ZelenskyyPresident of Ukraine
Other problems pointed out by the leader of the country are the unwillingness of Ukrainians to get vaccinated and low salaries of teachers.
Demarcation line
Zelensky also wished that neighbors would come to visit “with jellied meat and a bottle, and not with weapons and without knocking,” and relatives would come more often from Donbass and Crimea. “But not to visit, but to my home,” he added.
In addition, the leader of Ukraine said when the front in Donbass will disappear. According to him, “as soon as we remove the demarcation line in our heads, it will disappear on the map as well.” This is the only phrase that Zelensky uttered in Russian.
Not some horrible army
At the same time, the President of Ukraine said that Kiev is not afraid of the appearance of the military near the Ukrainian border. “We were frightened inside the country. And they frightened from the outside. But any army on the other side of the border does not scare us, because a significant army on our side of the border protects us, “Zelensky said.
He also stressed that currently the Ukrainian army has the largest budget in the history of the country. He promised that this state of affairs will continue in the future. “But for me this is not a victory, but the norm. For the life of the state is not worth it, which does not protect those who defend it at the cost of their lives, ”he stressed.
Return of Crimea
In his address, Zelenskiy spoke about Crimea, saying that he does not wait “for the world to solve our problems.” He stressed that Kiev was able to return the peninsula to the world agenda. According to the Ukrainian leader, this is the first step towards the return of Crimea to the republic.
He also recalled that at the Crimean Platform summit, 46 participating countries spoke in favor of the peninsula should be under the jurisdiction of Kiev.
Prior to this, the results of a study by Active Group showed that almost half of Ukrainians believe in the return of Crimea to the country. The respondents were asked whether Ukraine will be able to return Crimea. According to the poll results, 46.1 percent hoped for the return of the peninsula. Of these, 4.3 percent believe that this will happen soon, and 41.8 percent – in the long term. 33.2 percent believe that Crimea will remain part of Russia. One fifth of the respondents found it difficult to answer.
