In this pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a meeting on the creation of museums, cultural and educational complexes in the Russian cities of Vladivostok, Kemerovo, Kaliningrad and Sevastopol via video broadcast during the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok September 11, 2023. (Photo by MIKHAIL METZEL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine must repeal a decree that effectively rules out negotiations with Russia if there is to be any prospect of talks to end the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
“If the United States believes that Ukraine is ready to negotiate, then it should lift the decree banning negotiations,” Putin said during a speech in Vladivostok at the Eastern Economic Forum.
Putin noted that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “said they were ready (to negotiate). So they (Ukraine) should revoke the decree, then we’ll see.”
“They said publicly that they would not negotiate. Now let them say publicly that they want to do it,” Putin said.
In October 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree officially declaring the prospect of talks with Putin “impossible.”
The decree followed the Russian president’s declaration that four occupied territories of Ukraine had officially become part of Russia.
Now is not the time for talks: Zelensky has long expressed concerns about negotiations with Putin, citing his history of reneging on agreements.
“If you want to compromise or have a dialogue with someone, you can’t do it with a liar,” Zelensky said in an interview in Kyiv last week with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
Zelensky noted that the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin – the Russian mercenary leader whose plane crashed weeks after inciting a mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership – showed what happens when people do business with Putin.
He said that when Putin realized that a large part of society supported Prigozhin, “he killed him.” But before making promises to him, the territory of Belarus (Belarus) gave him new locations, African affairs and businesses, a lot of different things.
Blinken told ABC News this week that Russia needs to show it can act in good faith if it wants to hold talks.
“It takes two to tango. And so far we see no signs that … Putin is interested in meaningful diplomacy. If he does that, I think Ukrainians will be the first to get involved and we will be right behind wanting this war to end, but it must end on fair and lasting terms that respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity reflect,” Blinken explained.