Kathrine Frich
Ukraine’s president used the anniversary to send a pointed message abroad.
From a bunker in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky urged world leaders to see the war firsthand, and made a direct appeal to Donald Trump.
Call to visit Kyiv
In a televised address on Tuesday, Zelensky invited the US president to travel to Ukraine, saying that witnessing the conflict in person would clarify who bears responsibility.
“I really want to come here with the president of the United States one day. I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain, only then can one understand what this war is really about,” he said.
He added: “This is not a street fight, it is an attack by a sick state on a sovereign one. He [Putin] is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace.”
Zelensky suggested that such a visit would show “who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured.”
Bunker address
The speech marked the first time Zelensky has been filmed speaking from the underground bunker on Bankova Street since the early days of the invasion.
The location served as his command center in February 2022, when Russian forces advanced on Kyiv. Recalling that moment, Zelensky said:
“This office, this small room in the bunker on Bankova Street, this is where I held my first conversations with world leaders at the start of the war.”
He recounted a call with then-US President Joe Biden, adding:
“Here I spoke with President Biden, and it was right here that I heard: Volodymyr, there is a threat. You need to leave Ukraine urgently. We are ready to help with that. And here I replied that I need ammunition, not a ride.”
War at four years
Zelensky said Russia had failed to achieve its initial objectives.
“He has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace. And to ensure justice,” he stated.
On the anniversary, Zelensky also welcomed several European leaders to Kyiv, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, along with leaders from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Finland.
Sources: Daily Express
