Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy has said the idea of banning Ukrainian military from returning fire is a "path to surrender, rather than to peace."
Speaking at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on June 6, Parubiy added he was anxious about Zelensky's instructions to announce the initiative restricting Ukrainian servicemen from opening fire in response to Russian-led militants' attacks in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
"When our servicemen don't respond to the aggressor's fire, the death toll among our military rises," he said.
"We won't allow Ukrainians' surrender to the Russian aggressor," the official stressed.
"And I'd like to inform the newly elected President [Volodymyr] Zelensky that a ban on returning fire is the path to surrender, rather than the way to peace,"
According to Parubiy, the president should "fix his position and respect Ukrainian soldiers, who defend Ukraine's independence on a daily basis, risking their lives."
"We will not allow surrender," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on June 5, the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas agreed on a new ceasefire mechanism.
Ukraine's envoy to the TCG, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said that the parties had agreed, among other things, to set not only the start date for the new truce, but also the mechanism for its introduction, according to Zelensky's press service.
