Zelenskyy: If this is the only set-up, I am ready to negotiate with Putin
Pravda Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is prepared to sit down at the negotiating table with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin if that proves to be the only way to secure peace for the Ukrainian people.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan
Quote: “If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely, we will go for this set-up for the meeting.”
Details: Zelenskyy emphasised that his personal feelings towards the Russian leader are irrelevant in this context: “I consider him an enemy. And to be honest, I believe he considers me an enemy as well.”
The president also pointed out that Ukraine is currently unable to reclaim all its territories and “cannot lose millions of people for the result that is not yet clear will ever happen”. He added that the country must not “violate the oath that we gave to the people who had lost their lives for the sake of us in this war”. Zelenskyy also stressed that Ukraine cannot violate its Constitution by recognising the occupied territories as Russian.
Background:
- On 23 January, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he plans to meet with Putin to bring an end to the full-scale war that Russia started against Ukraine.
- On 24 January, Putin expressed his desire to meet with Trump to “discuss matters of interest to both Moscow and Washington”. In the context of potential negotiations to end the war, the Kremlin leader referenced Zelenskyy’s decree prohibiting talks with Russia and said Ukraine’s international sponsors should pressure Zelenskyy to revoke this decree.
- Zelenskyy then explained that he had enacted a 2022 National Security and Defence Council decision to ban negotiations with Putin in order to curb separatism. He noted that the Russians had attempted to pressure Ukraine through “various channels” that Kyiv could not fully control. “I am the president of Ukraine; I lead any negotiations, and I prohibited anyone else [from engaging in such talks],” Zelenskyy said.
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