The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyysaid this Sunday that he was “ready for negotiations” with the Russian president. Wladimir Putinbut warned that failure could mean a third world war.
“I think we have to use every format, every opportunity, to have a chance to negotiate, a chance to talk to Putin. But if these attempts fail, it would mean that this is a third world war,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria.
Biden called Putin a “war criminal,” the journalist told Zelenskyy at the beginning of the interview. “Would it be very difficult for you to sit at the table with Putin to start negotiations?” he asked.
“I’m willing to negotiate with him. I’ve been at it for two years. And I think without negotiations we cannot end this war, the Ukrainian president replied. “We have always insisted on negotiations. We have always offered dialogue, offered solutions for peace, he added.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches a month, Zelenskyy has increasingly insisted on his willingness to start negotiations with Putin. “I want everyone to listen to me now, especially in Moscow. It’s time to meet. It’s time to talk. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice to Ukraine,” he said in a video message released on Saturday.
Call request “immediately”, the Ukrainian President has once again warned Russia that if he persisted in his aggression, his losses would be “enormous”. “Russian troops came to kill us, to exterminate usbut we are determined to show that we can resist, that we can fight back and that we can also reach some kind of agreement that does not undermine our territory or our dignity,” he said.
As for his priorities in talks with Russia, Zelenskyi previously said they were “the end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country.”
“Are you ready for a solution that recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the independence of the two breakaway republics of Donbass and guarantees that Ukraine will not apply for NATO membership?” Zakaria asked.
“As an independent state, there are problems that we cannot allow. We cannot accept the erosion of our territory and our sovereignty. Ukrainian citizens did not greet the invaders with flowers, they bravely fought them. You cannot force the President or any state to accept such things, he replied. “I cannot accept him as President or as a citizen. You can’t force people to love their enemy.”
What the negotiations aim to achieve, the President said, is a lull in the war and a commitment to continue talks to find the best solutions for both sides. The fundamental problem lies in the administration of the occupied territories, where, he asserted, the Russians have undermined and brainwashed their residents, telling them they saved them from the Ukrainian fascists.
Besides, he stressed, one cannot negotiate under the pressure of ultimatumswhich relates to the one given by Russia this weekend so that the Ukrainians let go of their defenses and leave the city of Mariupoland rejected by them.
Referring to membership in the world’s largest military alliance, NATO, Zelenskyy said that if Ukraine “were a member of NATO, it would not have started a war.” Nevertheless, he made it clear last week that he does not expect his country to do so in the short term to join NATO, which was a goal of Ukraine.
“I want security guarantees for my country, for my people. If the NATO members are willing to see us in the alliance, let them do so immediately. Because every day people die, he said, adding that he was grateful. for the assistance NATO has provided since the invasion began.
He also noted that when seeking these guarantees, Ukraine can turn to individual countries, regardless of whether they are members of NATO or not. Currently made up of 30 North American and European nations, NATO is a security alliance formed in 1949 in response to the onset of the Cold War and whose original goal was to protect the West from the Soviet Union threat.