The Ukrainian military is preparing to drive Russian forces out of occupied areas of Ukraine but is not planning attacks against territory inside Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
Mr. Zelenskyy made the comment while visiting Germany on Sunday, a day after holding private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where he told reporters that he was seeking the pontiff’s support for a peace plan in the face of Russia’s nearly 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine.
“We don’t attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory,” Mr. Zelenskyy said at a news conference Sunday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Ukrainian president’s remarks appeared to be aimed at quelling speculation among regional security analysts and media outlets that Ukraine’s military may attempt to capture areas inside Russia with the goal of using them as bargaining chips in peace negotiations with Moscow.
“We have neither the time nor the strength [to attack Russia],” Mr. Zelenskyy said, according to The Associated Press, which cited an official interpreter.
“We also don’t have weapons to spare with which we could do this,” he said.
With the U.S. and NATO allies providing weapons for Ukrainian forces, the Biden administration has projected a guarded posture on the prospect of a cease-fire and the possibility of talks to end the war.
Mr. Zelenskyy’s comments Sunday came amid reports of high-profile Russian battlefield losses in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow said Sunday that two Russian military commanders had been killed in combat near the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times.
The paper reported that in a rare announcement of battlefield losses, the Russian Defense Ministry said Vyacheslav Makarov, the commander of the 4th motorized rifle brigade, and Yevgeny Brovko, the deputy commander of the Army Corps for military-political work, had been killed in fighting in the region.
“Two attacks of the enemy have been repelled,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. “As a third attack was being repelled, the brigade commander was seriously wounded and died during the evacuation from the battlefield.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.