Russia's war against Ukraine war 'may end much sooner than many think', says President Zelensky

Russia's war against Ukraine war 'may end much sooner than many in the world think', President Volodomyr Zelensky has said.

In his daily video address, the Ukrainian leader said that the "victory of freedom" can be hastened "if Ukraine simply receives the weapons" it has "repeatedly asked for from the West". Mr Zelesnky said: "Any delay in providing such weapons to Ukraine, any excuses can mean only one thing: the relevant politicians want to help the Russian leadership more than us Ukrainians."

The speech was released after President Zelensky met with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell in Kyiv. All three opined that Ukraine was fighting Russian "for all of us" in Europe.

President Zelensky's speech in full in English

"Ukrainians! The 44th day of our defense against the Russian invasion is coming to an end. The 44th dark day. Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station this morning. 38 people died on the spot. Another 12 people died in hospitals during the day. We lost five children. Dozens more heavily wounded remain in hospital.

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"This is another war crime of Russia, for which everyone involved will be held accountable. Russian state propagandists were in such a hurry to shift responsibility for the attack to Ukrainian forces that they accidentally blamed Russia.

"RIA Novosti reported that the strike on Kramatorsk had been inflicted when the missiles were still in the air. The day before, other Russian propagandists were spreading threats to all those who escaped from Donbas by rail.