The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskystated this Saturday that the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, does not want peace in case of sitting down to negotiate, but rather ending its isolation, while pointing out that negotiations with Russia are possible only in conditions of strength on the part of Ukraine.
“I think Putin does not want peace. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to sit at the negotiating table with any of the leaders. For him it is about breaking political isolation. For him it is beneficial. “Sit down, talk, and not negotiate,” Zelensky declared in an interview on the occasion of the centenary of the Ukrainian Radio.
For the head of the Kremlin “it is favorable to negotiate with some type of surrender conditions on our part” he said, adding that “no one will give it to you”.
On the other hand, he declared that negotiations with Moscow are possible “as long as Ukraine is not alone with Russia and (Ukraine) is strong”.
“What kind of negotiations can there be with a murderer? If we talk only with Putin, only with the murderer, and we are in the conditions we are in now, not strengthened by some important elements, it is from the outset a loser status for Ukraine. In a weak position, there is nothing to do in these negotiations,” he said.
In another order, the Ukrainian head of state had criticized this friday the call from the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to the Russian president, Vladimir Putinconsidering that it has opened “Pandora’s box”.
“Chancellor Scholz told me that he planned to call Putin. Your call, in my opinion, opens Pandora’s box. Now there may be other conversations and phone calls. “They are mere words,” he said in his traditional nightly speech to the population.
“And this is exactly what Putin has been seeking for a long time. It is essential for him to weaken his isolation, as well as Russia’s isolation, and hold mere talks that will lead nowhere. He has been doing it for decades,” Zelensky emphasized.
The Ukrainian president maintained that this has allowed Russia to avoid any change in its policies, “which has ultimately led to this war”.
“We understand all the current challenges and know what needs to be done. And we want to make it clear: there will be no ‘Minsk-3’″Zelensky stated in reference to the two Minsk Agreements negotiated at the time with Russia to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that began in 2014.
That conflict between pro-Russian rebels supported by the Kremlin and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas was only frozen until it became a full-scale war in 2022, almost a thousand days ago. “We need real peace”, insisted the president of Ukraine.
Scholz spoke this Friday, for the first time since December 2022, with Putin, to whom he emphasized by telephone that “none of the war objectives” of Russia had been reached and before whom he urged “to be willing to enter into serious negotiations with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace”.
The German chancellor appealed to Putin in this regard “to end the war of aggression against Ukraine and withdraw troops”.
However, Putin insisted that he is willing to negotiate peace but under his conditions.
“Russia’s proposal is well known (…). “Possible agreements must take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation, start from the reality on the ground and, most importantly, eradicate the root causes of the conflict,” Putin informed Scholz.
(With information from agencies)
