Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated that he was “ready for negotiations” with Vladimir Putin, saying that “without negotiations, we will not stop the war” led by Russia in Ukraine, in an interview broadcast Sunday by CNN.
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“I am ready for negotiations with (Vladimir Putin). I have been ready for the last two years and I think that without negotiations, we will not stop the war,” he said.
He defended the holding of several rounds of talks between Kyiv and Moscow that have taken place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, saying they were “a lot of value”.
“If there is only a 1% chance of stopping this war, we must seize it,” he said.
Turkey, which is stepping up mediation efforts between Moscow and Kyiv, assured Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had made progress in their negotiations.
Faced with a Russian army entering Ukraine to “exterminate” the population, “we must use all formats, all the chances of having the possibility of negotiation, the possibility of talking to (Vladimir) Putin”, added the Ukrainian president .
“But if these attempts fail, it will mean that (the conflict in Ukraine) is a Third World War,” he warned.
The day before, Mr. Zelensky had already pleaded for negotiations, in a video posted on social networks.
“It is time to come together. It’s time to discuss. It is time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine,” he said.
