Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked this Saturday (April 23, 2022) to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “end the war”.
“I think whoever started the war will be able to end it,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in a Kyiv metro station. In addition, the Ukrainian leader reiterated that he is not “afraid” to meet with Putin if it allows for a peace deal between the two countries.
“From the beginning I insisted on negotiating with the Russian president,” he recalled. “It’s not that I want to meet with Putin, but I have to do it to resolve this conflict through diplomatic channels,” he added.
Ukraine will break off negotiations if Russia kills soldiers holed up in Azovstal
The Ukrainian president, on the other hand, warned that if Russia killed Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the gargantuan Azovstal Steelworks in Mariupol, a city that was besieged and bombarded by Russian forces for nearly two months, Kyiv would break off peace talks .
“If our men are killed in Mariupol and if so-called referendums are organized in the Kherson region, Ukraine will withdraw from the whole negotiation process,” he said.
He also said he was “ready” for “an exchange” of the “military defending Mariupol” in “any format” to “encircle the people who are in a terrible situation.”
“Today is one of the most difficult days” since the Russian siege of Mariupol began in early March, he lamented.
afp/dpa/rr