Zelenskyy: Talks can only start from current line of contact

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that negotiations with Russia on ending the war must take the current line of contact into account and that he is only prepared to discuss territorial issues with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin at a trilateral Ukraine-US-Russia meeting.

Source: Zelenskyy at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

Quote: "We need real negotiations. That means they can only begin where the front line is now. The contact line is the best line for talks. The Europeans support this, and we're grateful to them all."

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that "Russia still has no success in Donetsk Oblast, Putin has not been able to capture it for 12 years." He also reiterated that "surrendering territory and trading land are not possible" under Ukraine’s Constitution.

Quote: "Since the territorial issue is so important, it must only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia during a trilateral Ukraine-US-Russia meeting.

So far Russia has given no sign that a trilateral meeting will take place. If Russia refuses, then new sanctions are needed."

More details: Zelenskyy also emphasised the need for a ceasefire before the terms for ending the war can start to be considered.

Quote: "Putin has many demands and we do not know all of them. If there really are as many as we have heard, then it will take a lot of time to go through all of them, and that cannot be done under the pressure of weapons. Therefore, a ceasefire is necessary in order to work quickly on the final agreement. We will discuss this in Washington." 

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