CBSnews OP t1_je4vb3d wrote on March 29, 2023 at 1:03 PM

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that if Russia manages to capture the town at the center of what's been the longest and, by most accounts, the bloodiest battle of Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, it could doom his country's chances of preventing Moscow from redrawing the border of democratic Eastern Europe by force. Speaking with The Associated Press, Zelenskyy said that if Bakhmut were to fall, Putin could "sell this victory to the West, to his society, to China, to Iran," as leverage to push for a ceasefire deal that would see Ukraine agree to give up territory.

"If he will feel some blood — smell that we are weak — he will push, push, push," Zelenskyy told the AP. He appeared acutely aware of the risk that his country could see its vital support from the U.S. and Europe start to slip away as the 13-month war grinds on.

"Our society will feel tired" if the Russians notch a victory, he said. "Our society will push me to have compromise with them."

Ukraine's forces, backed by increasingly lethal waves of Western weaponry and financial support, have managed to hold Russia's invading forces at bay, even clawing back some occupied ground over the last six months.