Zelenskyy on Ukraine’s neutral status: In 2014, it didn’t stop the war

"In 2014, Ukraine had a non-aligned status, and we all know how that ended. It ended with the start of the war, the occupation of Crimea, and the occupation of part of eastern Ukraine — parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Even though we had a non-aligned status," Zelenskyy said.

Therefore, according to him, it cannot be said that Russia attacked Ukraine because it was part of one alliance or another.

"All of these are unnecessary narratives. What we truly lacked was clarity; our army lacked sufficient strength, and our leaders lacked sufficient leadership — that’s how it seems to me. Europe lacked sufficient unity. We want the war to end, but not in an ultimatum-like way and not at the expense of Ukraine's independence," the president noted.

Russia's conditions for ending the war

On June 2, the second round of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Istanbul.

Through Türkiye's mediation, Russia handed Ukraine a memorandum outlining Moscow's position on the terms for peace and a potential ceasefire.

Specifically, Russia’s conditions include Ukraine’s neutrality and a ban on the military presence of other countries, as well as Ukraine’s renunciation of the territories seized by Russia.

Notably, US officials expressed disappointment with the ceasefire terms proposed by Russia. According to ABC News, anonymous sources indicated that fulfilling such demands is unrealistic.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously discussed several points of this document and emphasized that even the first point of Russia’s memorandum amounts to an ultimatum.

Moreover, Zelenskyy later rejected Russia's memorandum, describing it as political spam and a publicity stunt aimed at a domestic audience.