Zelenskyy refuses to guarantee safety of foreign dignitaries invited by Russia

Moscow: Rejecting the Kremlin offer for a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday warned the foreign dignitaries invited by Russia to watch the Red Square parade on May 9, that he cannot guarantee their safety.

“We cannot be responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation. They provide you with security, and therefore we will not give you any guarantees,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by RBC news portal.

Kyiv insists on a 30-day ceasefire and the ceasefire announced by Russia to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory Day over Nazi Germany in World War II is a “theatrical production”, Zelenskyy told reporters.

“An unconditional ceasefire is the model proposed by the Americans. We are following it. From this date or another, preferably earlier. Yes, let’s try for 30 days. Why a 30-day ceasefire? Because it is impossible to agree on anything in three, five, seven days,” Interfax-Ukraine reported quoting Zelenskyy.

On May 9, Russia will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The central event of the ceremonies will be the parade on Red Square in Moscow.

The leaders of more than 20 countries, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, the presidents of Belarus, Serbia and Venezuela—Alexander Lukashenko, Aleksandar Vucic and Nicolas Maduro, as well as Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico have been invited.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to send Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to represent India, however, due to escalating tensions between India and Pakistan some junior minister is likely to attend.

There are reports that President Vucic of Serbia and Slovak Prime Minister Fico who were to defy EU diktat to boycott the Kremlin’s invitation and not travel to Moscow have been “suddenly taken ill”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev on his Telegram blog said that nobody is for asking Zelenskyy’s guarantees.

“But if his provocations are materialised, nobody will guarantee the dawn of May 10 in Kyiv,” he said.

For Russia, from the very beginning of the Ukraine conflict was the war with US-led NATO, but after Kyiv’s mineral deal with Washington, it has turned into a war with US President Donald Trump, experts say.