Putin is killer and terrorist, Ukraine must be strong in negotiations - Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (photo: president.gov.ua)
Kyiv must be at the same level or stronger than Russia to engage in peace talks. Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to impose an ultimatum on Ukraine, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Sky.com.
According to him, it does not matter where the negotiations take place or which leaders are present, as long as Ukraine is not in a weaker position than Moscow on the battlefield.
In Zelenskyy's opinion, this is the minimum, and Ukraine must be stronger than Putin, even at the same level of unity with its partners.
"They have to talk with us with a one-voice policy. If we speak with Putin, it's with a plan - we cannot give him the chance to give us an ultimatum. He can't give us an ultimatum because he's a killer, and he's a terrorist, and he's alone in my mind," the president stated.
Putin's ultimatum threats
On November 21, Russian military forces attacked Dnipro with an intercontinental ballistic missile. The attack followed a strike the day before by Storm Shadow cruise missiles on a command post near Kursk, during which Russian and North Korean soldiers were killed, including generals.
Putin stated that Russia had conducted a test launch of the medium-range missile Oreshnik. However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Intelligence Directorate clarified that Russia had struck Dnipro using the Kedr missile system.
On November 28, the Russian President threatened to launch an Oreshnik missile at decision-making centers in central Kyiv.
President Zelenskyy believes that by using the Oreshnik, Putin is attempting to prevent newly elected US President Donald Trump from bringing the war to an end.
