Zelensky: Some leaders resort to dangerous rhetoric on need for ceasefire without security guarantees

The head of the Ukrainian state said this during a press conference after his participation in the summit of the European Political Community in Budapest, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"You remember we had a ceasefire in 2014, after our Crimea and part of Donbas were occupied. It ended in preparation for a full-scale invasion. This suggests that a ceasefire without security guarantees for Ukraine... means continued preparations for the occupation of our state and the destruction of our independence and sovereignty," Zelensky said.

He noted that "dangerous rhetoric" is being observed among certain state leaders today about the need to cease fire without any guarantees being provided to Ukraine.

"Merely achieving a ceasefire is a model that we hear from some leaders here (at the summit in Budapest - ed.), from Brazil, China, and it's important that we definitely hear it from Russia. This is a great model for Russia," the president noted.

He recalled that after the 2014 ceasefire, the next step was not to even end the war, but at least to exchange prisoners of war, but even that never happened. "People have been in prisons for 10 years," Zelensky emphasized.

Therefore, the president said talks about a ceasefire without adequate security guarantees are unprofessional and irresponsible. "There must be a clear plan," Zelensky said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier President Zelensky, who spoke at the opening of the summit of the European Political Community in Budapest on Thursday, said Ukraine now needs a sufficient number of weapons from its partners, not support in negotiations, because Putin only thinks about wars, so he can only be held back by pressure.