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Zelensky opposes martial law, military solution for Crimea and Donbass

The Ukrainian leader stressed that he had made bringing peace to eastern Ukraine his number one election promise

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

© AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

KIEV, October 10. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said he is against imposing martial law in Ukraine and any attempts to iron out the problems of Donbass and Crimea by military means.

"If we speak about people and territories, the top priority is people, and the second one is territories," Zelensky told reporters during his press marathon in Kiev on Thursday.

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Zelensky vows his mission as president is to stop war in Donbass

"Do you remember when the former president tried to impose martial law? Do you remember the people’s reaction? Fear and chaos. Do you want chaos?" the president noted.

Zelensky stressed that he had made bringing peace to eastern Ukraine his number one election promise. "I want to end the war," he highlighted. "The society did not vote for a president who would come and say: we have martial law and the war and we would go to war, our army is ready, we would wage a war in Donbass and take our territories back through the war."

"If you say so then we should go to war in Crimea although our army is not ready," the Ukrainian leader went on. "This is not about the army, as a president I’m not ready to lose people," Zelensky noted, stressing that he had chosen the diplomatic path.

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