“Drawings” instead of reality: Zelenskiy spoke about the Russian delegation’s lies about the scale of the Donbas occupation

“Drawings” instead of reality: Zelenskiy spoke about the Russian delegation’s lies about the scale of the Donbas occupation

The Russian side stated during trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi that their army had captured half of Donetsk region, which Ukraine still controls.

This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press briefing.

The president spoke about the discrepancies in assessing the front-line situation between the Ukrainian and Russian sides. According to him, during the meetings the Ukrainian negotiating group found out that Russian representatives have a distorted view of the situation in Donbas.

"They (the Russians, — ed.) still have a different understanding. Russians think they shared this that they really occupied half of the territory of Donbas, which we actually control. Half. It’s not one village. And there were troops, intelligence on their side, who spoke about it very seriously. Our team thinks: ‘How can they even talk about this? Our soldiers are there.’ This is a problem, that we live in different planes. I think Putin lives in a slightly different one. Different information. It’s a different reality. Putin himself lives in a different reality," Zelensky said.

According to the head of state, the Ukrainian delegation was surprised by the presentation of this information by RF representatives and instead stated that it has video and other confirmations of control over these territories.

Zelensky added that the Moscow leader tells the American side that he has 1-2-3 months left before the complete occupation of eastern Ukraine.

"Of course, I could also draw him a picture. And there would be total occupation. But this is not true. This is not reality... Could I forgive Putin on the last day of my life? No. Russians do not realize that they are the aggressors. This is already for courts and history to decide," the president emphasized.

At the same time Zelensky noted that the American side confirmed Ukraine’s assessment of the situation on the battlefield.

"Americans, by the way, what was good — they said they confirmed the Ukrainian assessment, the reality on the battlefield. That was also important," the president stated.

He added that Ukraine is ready to discuss territorial issues, but such negotiations should take place with the participation of leaders.