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Russian-Ukrainian peace talks ‘sound more realistic’: Zelensky | Russo-Ukrainian War News

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said peace talks with Russia are beginning to sound “more realistic” but more time is needed for the outcome of the talks to be in Kyiv’s interests.

Zelenskiy’s comments early Wednesday came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was approaching its three-week mark and Russian troops continued to bombard Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv and the southern port city of Mariupol.

Negotiators from the two countries have been meeting via video link since Monday, with the Ukrainian delegation pushing for a ceasefire, troop withdrawal and security guarantees.

Russia has yet to capture any of Ukraine’s top 10 cities, and officials in Kyiv have expressed hope that the war could end sooner than expected, perhaps by May. They say Moscow may have resigned itself to failing to impose a new government by force and is running out of fresh troops.

“Meetings are ongoing, and, as I am informed, the positions during the negotiations are already sounding more realistic,” Zelensky said in his late-night video message.

“But it still takes time for decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine.”

The two sides are expected to speak again on Wednesday.

Zelensky’s adviser and member of the Ukrainian delegation, Mikhail Podolyak, called the negotiations “very complex and viscous.”

In a tweet following Tuesday’s talks, Podoliak said there were “fundamental differences” between the two sides, but said there was “of course room for compromise.”

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to predict progress in the talks.

“The work is difficult, and in the current situation, the very fact that (negotiations) are ongoing is probably positive,” he said.

Russia launched an invasion on February 24, calling it a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine.

As a result of the conflict, thousands of people were killed and injured, and three million Ukrainians fled to neighboring countries.

Earlier, Peskov said that Moscow, which is concerned about any eastward expansion of NATO, is demanding that Ukraine change its constitution, securing neutrality, recognize the Crimean peninsula, seized in 2014, as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent. states.

NATO membership

Hinting at a possible compromise, Zelenskiy said earlier that Ukraine was ready to accept security guarantees from the West that would prevent it from achieving its long-term goal of joining NATO.

“Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand this, we are not crazy. For years we have heard about the supposedly open door, but now we have also heard that we cannot enter,” the President of Ukraine said Tuesday at a meeting of the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force.

“And this is true, and this must be recognized. I am glad that our people are beginning to understand this and rely on themselves and on partners who help us,” he said.

However, Zelenskiy again called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine and said that “new formats of cooperation” are needed.

“If we cannot enter an open door, we must partner with communities that will help us and protect us, such as yours. And have strong guarantees,” he told the European military task force.

NATO does not accept countries with unresolved territorial conflicts and has previously ruled out a no-fly zone, saying such a move could provoke direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.

But Western countries have increased arms supplies to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, including on President Vladimir Putin, and have taken steps to limit Russian energy imports.

Western arms shipments were vital to enabling the Ukrainians to fight invading Russian forces far more effectively and ferociously than most Western intelligence agencies expected.

A senior US defense official told reporters late on Tuesday that Russian ground troops had made little progress across the country, but the Russians were using long-range fire to hit civilian areas in Kyiv.

The official said the US saw signs that Russia believes it may need more troops or supplies than it has in Ukraine and is considering ways to get more resources in the country.

The official did not elaborate.

The British Ministry of Defense also said on Tuesday that Russia is “increasingly seeking to raise additional troops to support and replenish its personnel losses in Ukraine.”

He added: “As a result of these losses, it is likely that Russia is struggling to carry out offensive operations in the face of sustained Ukrainian resistance.”