Russia has no plans to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or remove him from office, a top Kremlin spokesman said on April 6.
“No, this is not true,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state-run media, in response to a question about whether Russia wants Zelenskyy dead. He added that Russian authorities “have never talked about the occupation of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy “is the president of Ukraine,” Peskov said, adding that Russia wants him to agree to demands that have been proposed during peace talks. “Through those talks, we want to put an end to the military operation.”
The two sides last met for face-to-face negotiations about a week ago in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Western leaders continue to say that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Bucha, near Kyiv, coming days after Ukrainian officials made the allegations.
“When you look at what’s happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what [Russia] has done in Ukraine, which doesn’t look far short of genocide to me, it is no wonder that people are responding in the way that they are,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on April 6.
“And I have no doubt that the international community—Britain very much in the front rank—will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions,” Johnson said.
Russian government officials have categorically denied that Russian troops carried out atrocities in Bucha, claiming that videos and pictures that emerged last week were staged as a provocation.
“These terrible, criminal fake [images] were published in order to justify another pre-arranged sanctions package, including a large-scale expulsion of diplomats from different countries,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on April 6. “And also of course in order to complicate, if not completely disrupt [peace] talks.”
The White House said the United States and its allies would target Russian banks and officials with new sanctions on April 6 and ban new investment in Russia; the head of the European Commission signaled further sanctions—including examining energy imports—in addition to ones unveiled by the bloc on April 5.
Zelenskyy, for his part, addressed the U.N. Security Council and demanded that Russia be removed as a permanent member. He also questioned what role the Security Council, which includes China and the United States as members, even plays.
“It is obvious that the key institution of the world designed to combat aggression and ensure peace cannot work effectively,” he said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to remind you of Article 1, Chapter 1 of the U.N. Charter. What is the purpose of our organization? Its purpose is to maintain and make sure that peace is adhered to. And now the U.N. charter is violated literally starting with Article 1. And so what is the point of all other Articles?”
