During an interview granted to the American channel ABC on March 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed to be ” ready for dialogue with Putin. Other of his speeches suggest the opposite. Faced with war, the former actor seems to play several roles at once.
Strict conditions imposed by Russia
The journalist submits him to three conditions set by Russia for the conflict to end. A priori, to satisfy Vladimir Putin, it would be necessary that:
– Ukraine revises its Constitution to renounce its wish to join NATO;
– that it recognize Crimea as an integral part of Russia;
– and finally, that it recognize the independence of the two separatist regions in the East (Lougansk and Donetsk).
“I am ready for dialogue”
On ABC, the Ukrainian president gave his opinion on two of these points. Regarding NATO, he knows that “ the alliance is not ready to accept Ukraine because it is afraid of possible controversies and confrontations with Russia “. And, regarding the territories of Donbass, he assures that ” we can discuss and find a compromise on how these territories will continue to live. In short, Volodymyr Zelensky seems open to dialogue.
Excerpt from the interview with ABC, subtitled in French:
On the same day of March 8, Volodymyr Zelensky was also in telephone contact with the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, following a meeting of the latter with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. On Twitter, he briefly thanked him for ” its mediation efforts ».
One thing is certain, however, the Russian president is not a man to negotiate easily, and his Ukrainian counterpart has made it clear that he does not want ” be a country on its knees “, thus making a cross on the capitulation.
” We will win “
We are still on March 8 when Volodymyr Zelensky films himself to convey a positive but warlike message:
[ RUSSIE | UKRAINE ]
Yesterday followingnoon, Ukrainian President Zelensky posted a short video from the courtyard of his office: “It is snowing. It’s spring. This year, spring is like war, difficult. Everything will be alright. We will win.” pic.twitter.com/JeB3r9wEJr
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) March 9, 2022
Then, between Tuesday and Wednesday, he regularly reported on his exchanges with the other heads of state. Here and there he thanks “ the Netherlands for its intransigent position on sanctions once morest Russia », discusses with Justin Trudeau of « defense cooperation and [d’accroissement de] sanctions pressure on Russia », or is grateful to the European Union « for another round of sanctions once morest the Russian aggressor ».
That said, it is above all towards the United States that Volodymyr Zelensky turns. On Saturday March 5, he launched an appeal to the American Congress to ask for planes and more air security, but also a ban on the import of Russian oil. If the elected officials have assured that they will release ten billion dollars to come to the aid of Ukraine, the issue of airplanes was initially postponed.
See also: interview with Xavier Moreau, during which he explained that in the air, Russian domination was very clear.
A few days later, the Ukrainian president congratulated himself on having won his case, at least for oil; yesterday he wrote being grateful to the United States “ for their personal leadership in striking at the heart of Putin’s war machine and banning oil, gas and coal from the American market “, encouraging ” other countries and other leaders to follow ».
Finally, in a new interview granted to the American channel ABC that day, he relaunched his appeal, ” urging the West to send Russian-made warplanes “, what provoked a scam between the United States and Poland… And for the moment, still no plane.
Ready for dialogue, perhaps, but determined to go to war anyway.
The “ at the same time » does it exist, in diplomacy?