One of the top negotiators representing Ukraine in the stalled peace talks with Russia has apparently called for the extermination of “those who call themselves” the authorities in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics recognized by Russia as independent states in late February.
Speaking to Ukraine’s ICTV channel on Thursday, Mikhail Podoliak, adviser to the Head of the Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed the wish that “all these criminal elements which call themselves the authorities there be gone, physically gone,” once the Ukrainian military retakes Donbass.
Podoliak went on to define Ukraine’s principal priority at this point as “liberating, and doing so in as tough a manner as possible with respect to collaborators as well as Russian troops” Kherson Region and Zaporozhye Region in the south of Ukraine. Retaking the areas would help Kiev regain access to the Sea of Azov, something Ukraine “definitely needs,” according to the adviser.
The official added that he wants the word ‘Russians’ to be forgotten and consigned to history in Kharkov Region – which borders Russia, and where Kiev is mounting a counter-offensive – as well as in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, which were recognized as independent by Moscow in late February.