Ukraine Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova on Sunday called on nations around the world to “step up” pressure on Russia to end its scorched-earth invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Markarova said negotiation doesn’t mean surrender.
“We are fighting, heroically, our armed forces and the people, to defend” Ukraine, she said. “We would like to negotiate. Negotiate does not mean to surrender. We are not ready to give up either on our dreams or our integrity. But we are ready to negotiate, even with a brutal enemy, in order to stop it.”
“We're asking all of our friends and allies to fight successfully, and also to put on the pressure so Russia will negotiate,” she asserted.
Markarova decried the destruction of major Ukrainian cities, recounting that 60 universities had been destroyed “completely.”
“They need to stop and get out from Ukraine, but we also need to be talking about reparations, about the security guarantees and everything else,” she insisted.
According to Markarova, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has not been moved by the massive pushback not only by Ukraine, but by nations around the world.
“We all have to understand that even though we all are united in this effort in helping Ukraine, Putin is not changing his behavior. It is quite different. He has actually turned to terror and doing what the war criminals are doing, not what the armed forces are doing,” she said.
“It is a clear message to all of the civilized world that we have to step up. Ukrainians will not give up,” she insisted.
Markarova highlighted the destruction of Mariupol in particular.
“What is happening in Mariupol is a war crime,” she said. “The city is without food, without anything, for 13 days, and instead of simply opening up humanitarian corridors, as we agreed, and letting people out and letting supplies in, Russia is just trying to take the city down. And people in the city continue to fight. So all of our hearts go to them and we're trying to do everything on the diplomatic front, and elsewhere, to help the people of Mariupol.
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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