Zelenskyy on Putin's сomplains on negotiations ban: 'They live seemingly in 1917 mindset'

"There are many signals spread by the Russians regarding some decrees, as they call them. They live seemingly in a 1917 mindset. A decree on peace, a decree on something else," he said.

According to Zelenskyy, the decision by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) was a forced one, as Kremlin head Vladimir Putin had started building various channels with "separatists" and representatives of other countries to influence Ukraine, its independence, and even Zelenskyy himself directly.

"There were many negotiation processes, many shadow corridors. I stopped it. Quickly. I stopped separatism in our country by halting any negotiations with Russia with Putin’s supporters during the war. This happened when their troops were still in the Kyiv region. They were doing it, trying to exert pressure through many different corridors — our parliamentary corps, European MPs, and US representatives. I realized that neither we nor our relevant institutions could control this," Zelenskyy explained.

For this reason, the president stated he made the decision because, as the leader of negotiations, it was his responsibility to do so.

"I understand that Putin does not like this because he had many channels. There are channels everyone knows about, and there were others they used—even within some of our institutions — that I am not ready to talk about. That’s why this decision was made," Zelenskyy concluded.

NSDC's ban on direct negotiations with Putin

In October 2022, President Zelenskyy enacted an NSDC decision prohibiting negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Recently, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine has not abandoned its principle of refusing to negotiate with Vladimir Putin.

It is worth noting that Putin recently complained that Kyiv allegedly has a ban on negotiations with Russia.