Putin will find reasons not to sit at negotiating table - Zelenskyy
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want negotiations. He will find reasons to refrain from dialogue until his conditions are agreed upon, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview during a national telethon live broadcast.
"Putin does not want negotiations," said Zelenskyy.
According to the president, the Kremlin leader will find reasons to refrain from negotiations until his conditions are agreed upon.
"He will find reasons until the person who is ready for capitulation, which is what Putin is offering today: legally approve the loss of our territories, reduce the army to 40-50 thousand, vote in parliament for neutral status, and that's it. I think only to be able to come back again," Zelenskyy noted.
Ukraine and Russia negotiations
Donald Trump stated that on his first day as US president, he wants to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiation table. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.
Earlier, the Ukrainian President's Office outlined the main condition for beginning negotiations with Russia: the withdrawal of enemy troops to their positions as of February 24, 2022. They emphasized that Ukraine opposes freezing the war.
Also, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the President's Office, Ukraine may engage in peace talks with Russia, but only through coercive means. For pressure on the aggressor country, economic and diplomatic unity is needed.
At the same time, the US State Department has stated that the United States currently sees no evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to negotiate a war-ending deal in Ukraine that is not on his terms.
Additionally, just recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the "peace proposals" from Trump's team, even though no official initiatives had been made by the US yet.
