Putin never wanted to stop the war, Zelenskyy says
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (photo: facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin never truly wanted negotiations or an end to the war, and Moscow agreed to talks only out of fear of US actions, the Ukrainian President stated in his interview with CNN.
The host raised the topic of negotiations, noting that Russia rejected the US proposal to hold talks in the United States and instead insisted on holding them in Europe.
When asked whether this signals that Russia now feels it can ignore the appearance of peace talks due to rising oil prices and US distraction with the war in Iran, Zelenskyy said:
"First of all, they never wanted it. I'm sharing my own opinion. I know that my colleagues from the United States sometimes have a different view… Putin never wanted to stop the war. They've been afraid of steps of President Trump and pressure from America. That's why he played this game, that he wants negotiations."
He added that he still believes the United States must exert strong pressure on Putin. Otherwise, the Russian leader will not negotiate.
"He wants only ultimatums from us, that we have to withdraw from our territory. But he will not end with this… It's not enough for him," Zelenskyy said.
The president emphasized that the situation in Iran, combined with sanctions easing, gives Putin money and more confidence to continue the war.
Summarizing, Ukraine's leader stressed that if the goal is truly to end the war, meetings are necessary, and Kyiv asks the United States to set a firm date for the next trilateral talks.
"Now, the American side postponed because of Iran, postponed the meeting. But if we really want to stop the war, we need to meet. We need to meet on technical groups. We need to meet on the level of leaders. We need more pressure on Russia. If we will not do these steps, we will not be closer to the peace," the President concluded.
Peace talks and beyond
Since the beginning of this year, Ukraine, the United States, and Russia have already held three rounds of peace talks. A fourth round was scheduled for early March but was postponed due to the start of US-Israeli operations against Iran.
Today, Volodymyr Zelensky also noted that Ukrainian and US teams are actively consulting on sanctions policy and security guarantees, but emphasized that resolving key issues requires a direct meeting between the two presidents.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump continues to accuse Zelenskyy of allegedly not wanting peace. In his NBC News interview, Trump claimed that Putin is supposedly ready for a deal, while Zelenskyy does not want to finalize a peace deal.
