Opposition rally 'Redlines for Zelensky' ends in central Kyiv
KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax) - A rally, dubbed "Redlines for Zelensky," which was held in Kyiv's Maidan (Independence) Square and sought to warn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky against "surrendering national interests" at the upcoming Paris talks, is over, an Interfax correspondent reported.
The rally lasted about one-and-a-half hours. About 7,000-8,000 people at most attended it in the main square of the Ukrainian capital. Participants were carrying Ukrainian national flags, the flags of various parties, and posters.
The rally was held calmly, without any provocations and disorder.
Representatives of various political forces, in particular, deputies from the European Solidarity faction Andriy Parubiy and Petro Poroshenko, Holos member Inna Sovsun, and Svoboda party leader Oleh Tiahnybok spoke up from the stage during the event. The Ukrainian national anthem was performed at the end of the rally.
The declared goal of the rally was to warn Zelensky about the inadmissibility of crossing the "redlines" at the the Paris talks on December 9, as part of which the Normandy-format summit is scheduled to be held. These "redlines" were set forth by three parliamentary factions on December 3.
The aforementioned demands are the following: no compromises on the unitary state, no to federalization; no compromises on the European and Euro-Atlantic course; no political steps, in particular, elections in certain Donbas regions outside Kyiv's control until the conditions on security and "de-occupation" are met. The head of state is also demanded not to agree on any compromises on the issue of Crimea and on the termination of the international lawsuits against Russia.
The European Solidarity, Holos, Batkivshchyna parties are among the organizers of the rally.