The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview that he rejected the idea of the French head of state, Emmanuel Macron, about a “truce” with Russia during the Summer Olympic Games (LOI) in Paris.

According to Zelensky, the truce “will benefit the enemy”.

• Let’s imagine for a moment that there is a ceasefire. First, we don’t trust (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. Second, he will not withdraw his troops. Third, who guarantees that Russia will not take advantage of the opportunity to bring troops to our territory, Zelensky pointed out.

Macron is calling for a worldwide truce during the Summer Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11 in Paris.

In an interview with AFP, Zelensky also stated that he does not believe that Russia has the strength to attack Kiev again.

• They do not have the strength for a major offensive against the capital, as they had at the beginning of the invasion, Zelenski pointed out, adding that the Kremlin’s main targets are Kharkiv and Donbass.

He blamed Western countries for forbidding him to attack Russia with their weapons. According to him, the West is afraid of both Russian and Ukrainian defeat, and he called this situation absurd.

• We are in an absurd situation where the West is afraid that Russia will lose the war. And at the same time they don’t want Ukraine to lose it. Because the final victory of Ukraine will lead to the defeat of Russia and the final victory of Russia will lead to the defeat of Ukraine, noted Zelensky.

In the interview, the Ukrainian president also referred to how much military equipment Ukraine has. He noted that Ukraine needs 120 to 130 F-16 fighter jets to be able to defend its skies against 300 Russian planes.

• We need such a number of F-16s to have a balance of forces. Ukraine has only a quarter of the air defense systems it needs and needs 120 to 130 F-16 fighters to end Russia’s dominance in the air, Zelensky said.