Ukrainian Ambassador to Belgrade Volodymyr Tolkach (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)
Ukrainian Ambassador to Serbia Volodymyr Tolkach said on Feb. 23 that all Ukrainians believed that this was going to be the final year of the war, underlining though that it was still too early to discuss the outcome of potential peace talks, and that only Russia could end the war.
"All Ukrainians believe this is going to be the last year of the war. Yet we held the same belief after the first and second anniversaries and the war went on, and we cannot predict what will happen next. Our people are extremely tired, because this is an extremely sensitive and painful issue for us. Secondly, we have lost many defenders, which also has negative consequences for our society," Tolkach said in an interview with BETA.
High-ranking U.S. and Russian officials met recently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, agreeing to seek peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict through negotiations. Ukrainian and European officials were not included in these talks, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s insistence. Tolkach also stressed that peace in Ukraine could not be discussed without Ukraine.
The ambassador underlined that Serbia had provided humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion. "I do not just want to be polite - I genuinely want to say thank you, because Serbia has given us all the humanitarian aid that it could. Serbia donated ambulances for our civilians, which are now in Dnipro and Sumy, as well as a significant amount of medical equipment, medicine, and electrical equipment, which were very useful to us," he said, adding that Belgrade's aid also arrived through various United Nations agencies. He also mentioned an active dialogue between the two first ladies, Olena Zelenska and Tamara Vucic.
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