The Independence Day celebrations were attended by Poland’s president,
Andrzej Duda, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Speaking on the ongoing Ukrainian offensive into the Kursk Region, Zelenskyy said that he assesses it “very positively”.
“The operation is complex, but what is most important, is that it is going according to the plan,” Ukraine’s president said during a joint press conference with the Polish head of state and Lithuania’s PM.
The three countries are members of the Lublin Triangle, a regional cooperation format established in 2020.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces’ offensive into Russia’s Kursk Region has served primarily to increase Kyiv’s capabilities to exchange prisoners of war. Furthermore, it had halted Russian attempts at taking hold of territory in northern Ukraine, primarily the Sumy Region.
At the same time, Zelenskyy refuted the suggestions that the Ukrainian-occupied territories of Russia can serve as some sort of a bargaining chip in a dialogue with Russia’s dictator, President Vladimir Putin.
He said: “What dialogue? We aren’t gambling with chips here, we are being very open with our partners.”
According to Zelenskyy, one of the goals of the Kursk offensive was to show the world Putin’s true face, and that controlling territory conquered from Ukraine is more important than defending his compatriots.
“Those countries that did not so far understand why he [Putin] came to our country’s territory, have by now – I think – understood. But we have shown the [Russian] society, which is more dear to him: occupying the territory of Ukraine, or defending his own people,” Zelenskyy said.
“He does not think how to defend his own people. He is bombing his own villages. Kudos to him. Simply, kudos,” said the Ukrainian president.
The Ukrainian military launched its offensive into Russia’s Kursk Region on August 6. According to Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the area of Russian territory occupied by Ukraine now amounts to 1,263 square kilometers (488 square miles), with 93 settlements of varying sizes under the Ukrainian armed forces’ control.
