'Ukraine Will Fight For Bakhmut As Long As We Can’ — Zelensky Vows

Zelensky has vowed that “Ukraine will fight for Bakhmut as long as they can”.
Zelensky made the vow on Friday during a summit in Kyiv with EU leaders.
Zelensky has also called for Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has said “Ukraine will not give up” on embattled Bakhmut in the east of the country as Moscow’s forces continue their onslaught against a town the Ukrainian leader described as a “fortress”.

The hotly-contested town in the Donetsk region has been at the centre of fighting for months and Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian forces would continue to hold it for as long as possible, during a summit in Kyiv with EU leaders.

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“No one will surrender Bakhmut. We will fight as long as we can,” Zelensky said, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with President of the European Council Charles Michel, who was on his second visit to Kyiv in less than three weeks, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“If weapon (deliveries) are accelerated – namely long-range weapons – we will not only not withdraw from Bakhmut, we will begin to de-occupy Donbas,” Zelensky added, referring to the eastern region comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces

Moscow says Russian forces are encircling Bakhmut from several directions and battling to take control of a road that is also an important supply route for Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky’s defiant comments on the battle for Bakhmut came at the end of a two-day visit of several senior European Union officials to Kyiv, during which the Ukrainian leader called for his country’s rapid accession to the regional bloc.

Zelensky has been clear he wants Ukraine to join the EU as fast as possible and has said he wants the discussions to start this year.