Russia looking for new ways to intimidate Europe - Zelensky

He said this at a joint press conference with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania in Kyiv on Thursday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Zelensky said that together with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, they "discussed today the diplomatic efforts being made by different parties to restore peace."

"Everyone sees that the only obstacle to all these efforts is the unwillingness of the Russian Federation for real action, for real negotiations aimed at restoring peace. Russia does not want peace. It wants nothing but war. Right now, as we stay here, in the Mariinsky Palace, Russian troops continue their brutal assault on the Donbas, strengthening their group in the Kharkiv region, strengthening the bridgeheads in the south of our country," Zelensky said.

He added that the aggressor state must realize that there is no alternative to peace and it must start looking for peace.

"Meanwhile, we all see and we heard today, when the sirens went off, that Russia is only looking for new ways to intimidate Europe and capture more and more of our land," Zelensky said.

According to him, Russia's goal in this war is to break Ukraine and then break Europe as a whole.

"Russia wants to show that European unity allegedly cannot be effective and that European values cannot work to protect freedom. Therefore, we can and must work together to break this scenario and prove to them that Europe will continue to be free, democratic and -- I emphasize this once again -- united," Zelensky stressed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis arrived in Ukraine on June 16. They have already visited Irpin and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Photo credit: President's Office