President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the situation in the besieged port city of Mariupol in his weekly Saturday video address to the people of Ukraine and promised a better future if hostilities ended.
The situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman,” Zelensky said. “Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol.
Mariupol and its surrounds, which are mainly under Russian control, are home to an estimated 100,000 people, with Ukrainian troops confined to pockets of resistance.
“There are only two ways to influence this,” Zelensky said. “Either our partners will give Ukraine all the necessary heavy weapons, planes, and, without exaggeration, immediately… Or a negotiating path, in which the role of partners should also be decisive.”
Zelesnky stated that his government has made every effort to break the siege of Mariupol: “Military or diplomatic — anything to save people. But finding this solution is extremely difficult.”
“Although we have heard many intentions from those who wanted to help and who are really in positions of international influence, none of them have been realized yet.” he added.
On March 25, French President Emmanuel Macron advocated a large marine evacuation, but the idea was scrapped. Every day, Zelensky, the chief of Ukraine’s military forces, or the head of the country’s negotiating team, he said “in touch with our Mariupol defenders Every single day.”
“Today I held a meeting dedicated to the reconstruction of our cities,” he said. “Of course, this is a huge amount of work. But still less than defending the state in war.”
The President added, “Now it is a historic moment; the moment when we can solve many old problems of the whole environment of our life once and for all.”
Zelensky addressed the housing crisis and the “true modernization of our communities.”
“Millions of people know how difficult it is to get a home, earn money for their own apartment, build a house… Today, I set a task to provide temporary housing to all our IDPs [internally displaced.]…Those whose house was destroyed by war. Temporary housing until we rebuild their homes.”
Zelensky also said memorials were being planned, one of which “will tell the story of the destroyed bridge in Kyiv region, which connected Irpin and Bucha with Kyiv. The story of people who escaped from Russian invaders to Kyiv using this bridge and this road.”
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