Ukraine's president says country’s delegation tasked with ensuring meeting of presidents

By Burak Dag

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - Ukraine’s delegation for negotiations with Russia has a clear task -- to do everything to ensure a meeting of the countries’ presidents, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early Monday.

"The representatives of our countries’ delegations speak in a video format every day," Zelenskyy said in a video message on Telegram.

"Strong people of an unbreakable country! Today is the 18th day of our war for life, for Ukraine, for independence," Zelenskyy said.

Touching on the Russian missile strike on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv that killed at least 35 people and wounded 134 others, he said "nothing was happening there that could threaten the territory of the Russian Federation."

On Sunday, Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said in a statement that Russian forces fired more than 30 cruise missiles at the Yavoriv military range, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of Lviv and 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Ukraine's border with Poland.

The military range was home to the International Peacekeeping and Security Center which was used by the US and NATO to train the Ukrainian military.

He said Russia’s attack targeted the place, which was only 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the border of a NATO country.

He went on to say that in 2021, he made a "clear warning to NATO leaders that if there were no tough preventative sanctions against Russia, it would start a war."

"We were right," he added.

The Ukrainian president once again called for the complete closure of his country’s airspace, saying "if you don’t close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory. NATO territory. On the homes of citizens of NATO countries.”

He also claimed that Russia’s attack in Kyiv that resulted in the death of American journalist Brent Renaud was "a deliberate attack by the Russian military. They knew what they were doing."

"In the east of our country, the invaders decided to ‘demilitarize’ and ‘denazify’ the Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate."

Zelenskyy added that “more than 10 humanitarian corridors worked. Kyiv region, Luhansk region...5,550 people were saved in one day. In six days -- more than 130,000.”

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, more than 2.69 million people have fled to other countries, according to UN estimates.

At least 596 civilians have also been killed and 1,067 injured in Ukraine, it said.

While the European Union, the US and others have imposed sanctions on Moscow, many companies and global brands have also suspended operations in Russia.