Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told hosts of ABC’s news program “This Week” at an event in Washington at the U.S. Capitol that “Ukrainians will not surrender”, continuing “Ukrainians will not give up. We are tired after this horrible destruction. We are mourning the people we have lost. But we will not stop, and we will defend our country to the victory.” she also maintained that “This war was started by Russians, it has to be ended by Russians.” Markarova further stated that any diplomatic agreement would include a total withdrawal of Russian troops, saying: “I do not think there could be any other solution.”
The ambassador was adamant in her belief that Ukraine had the upper hand and would end up the victor in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. “For us there is no question that we will win. You know, we have to win and we will win,” Markarova said. “The question is, how many of the great Ukrainians we will lose winning this war?” while thanking the United States for its aid in the war.
Russia has a much larger military presence than Ukraine does, and it’s estimated that there are at least 185,000 Russian soldiers stationed at the border, which is nearly as many as the 200,000 soldiers that Ukraine has in total.
