In an interview with a number of Italian newspapers, he said: "This is not a particularly big city.. In fact, there are many other cities like it in Donbass.. It is important for us to defend it, but not at any cost and for everyone to die.. We will fight as long as it is." That is reasonable, then the Russians want more of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, to the borders of the Donbass and to the Dnieper River, if they can.. We are resisting, and at the same time we are preparing for the next counterattack. Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about his unwillingness to see Russia "defeated," Zelensky said that the French president was "wasting time." "It would be a useless dialogue, Macron is really wasting time," Zelensky told Corriere della Sera newspaper. "I have come to the conclusion that we have no power to change Russia's position. If they decide to isolate themselves in the dream of restoring the old Soviet empire, there is nothing we can do." What we do about it is their business whether or not they cooperate with the international community on the basis of mutual respect." Earlier, the President of Ukraine confirmed that the Kiev forces would not give up the city of Artyomovsk, adding, "We will fight as much as we can." And he said: "The Ukrainian forces will not surrender Artyomovsk," considering that the Ukrainian people will not forgive him in the event of handing over Artyomovsk, and he said: "Resist, fight to the end." Mikhail Podolak, adviser to Zelensky's office, also said that Kiev was paying a very high price in order to preserve Artyomovsk, and he refused to give accurate statistics on Kiev's losses. The advisor to the President of the Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Kimakovsky, said that the Ukrainian forces had begun to gather their reserves near the city, and confirmed that there were disagreements in Kiev over whether or not to withdraw the forces from Artyomovsk. For its part, the United States recommended Kiev to withdraw its forces from Artyomovsk, according to "Agence France Presse", quoting a high-ranking US official. The official pointed out that Kiev's increasing interest in controlling the city "impedes preparations for the expected spring offensive," noting that in the situation with Artyomovsk, time plays here in favor of the Russian side, as it has more artillery and military resources. In a defiant message, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the "Wagner" forces, urged the Ukrainian president not to withdraw his forces from Artyomovsk, noting that this step was "cowardly" for Kiev. "Dear Vladimir Alexandrovich (Zelinsky), there are many who ask you to withdraw troops from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), do not do this, the city is the main event of this war," Prigozhin wrote on his press office channel on "Telegram". He added, addressing Zelensky: "We must continue the fight... You will appear cowardly in this case... You will also be disrespectful at that time."