President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Saturday that Ukraine would defeat Russia as the war entered a third year.
“We have been fighting for this for 730 days of our lives. We will win on the greatest day of our lives,” Zelensky told an open-air anniversary event in Kyiv.
“Any normal person wants the war to end. But none of us will allow Ukraine to end,” Zelensky said, stressing that the war must end “on our terms”, with a “just” peace.
He spoke alongside the Canadian, Italian and Belgian prime ministers and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen who came to Kyiv to mark two years since Russia’s invasion.
Zelensky hugged the leaders and handed medals to soldiers at a ceremony at Kyiv’s Gostomel airport, targeted by Russia in the first days of its invasion.
“Two years ago, we met the enemy landing force here with fire; two years later, we meet our friends and partners here,” the president said.
