NATO Secretary General on Putin's refusal to negotiate with Zelenskyy: Russia lost opportunity
Photo: Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General (Getty Images)
Ukraine proposed to Russia to hold a high-level meeting in Istanbul. However, President Vladimir Putin refused, thereby missing an opportunity to move toward peace, according to a press conference by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Rutte recalled that Western countries had initiated the Coalition of the Willing and other initiatives aimed at ensuring that when Ukraine and Russia agree on a ceasefire or peace, such an agreement would be lasting and strong.
The Secretary General explained that the West wants to avoid a repeat of the Minsk Agreements situation, which began to be violated almost immediately after they were signed. "It (Peace - ed.) has to be lasting. It has to be durable," he said.
"The Russians are sending a low-level delegation now and not taking up the opportunity President Zelenskyy has been providing… Ukraine is clearly ready to play ball, but that ball is now in the Russian court," he added.
The Secretary General expressed gratitude to the US for focusing on this issue. According to him, both US President Donald Trump and his entire team, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are focused on achieving peace in Ukraine.
Putin refused to go to Istanbul
On May 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold a meeting in Istanbul. Zelenskyy made this statement after the Kremlin leader expressed a desire to restore direct contacts between Ukraine and Russia.
Only yesterday, late in the evening of May 14, Russia revealed the composition of its delegation. It included:
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Vladimir Medinsky – aide to the Russian President (head of the delegation);
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Mikhail Galuzin – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia;
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Igor Kostyukov – Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces;
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Alexandr Fomin – Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia.
Zelenskyy noted that the level of the Russian delegation resembled a "sham" one.
