Russia exploited de-escalation to hit harder, Zelensky says

The Russians have amassed their forces in preparation for a large-scale attack on Ukraine. They took advantage of the pause agreed upon during the negotiations in Abu Dhabi to do this.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this on Tuesday, February 3.

Zelensky spoke about the massive strike against Ukraine

According to Zelensky, after the meeting in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. proposed steps to de-escalate the situation. The condition was that there would be no strikes on energy infrastructure.

"They also raised the issue of halting attacks on other critical infrastructure. Yet we saw strikes on the railroad and other facilities. Nevertheless, there were no strikes on energy infrastructure. The Americans expected that this would hold for a week," the President said.

Despite the agreements, Russia attacked Ukraine today with 71 missiles and 450 drones. According to Zelensky, Russia's strike force was smaller before the preliminary negotiations in Abu Dhabi concluded.

"They delayed the strike, increased the number of missiles and drones, and hit us during the coldest days. So I wouldn’t say anyone presented us with a gift. I don’t think that’s what happened. They struck with a package one and a half times larger than what they could have used back then," Zelensky said.

He added that Ukraine had expressed interest in continuing the de-escalation. However, this did not happen.

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