Zelenskyy wants to meet Putin to improve peace negotiations

STANISLAV POHORILOV - 26 March, 12:26

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine is taking peace negotiations with Russia seriously and that it would be better if talks with the Russian side were held at the level of national leaders.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), citing his latest interview with Le Monde

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Ukrainians take negotiations seriously. We believe talks are necessary – preferably at the level of leaders – and we are ready for that. The Russians are seeking an ultimatum resolution to the military actions. They want Ukraine to accept their conditions, including the withdrawal of Ukraine's Armed Forces from the territory we control in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions."

Details: According to the president, both Russians and Ukrainians understand how much time it would take the Russians to seize this territory while sustaining losses of 28,000, 30,000 or 35,000 soldiers per month.

"And it's still not certain they would succeed in seizing it. They could end up burying 300,000 to a million of their troops there. They don't value human life, but they understand that it's money. All of this comes down to recruitment contracts, and 300,000 to a million additional coffins for Russia," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy noted that the Kremlin does not fully understand the public reaction – whether people will grow used to it or not.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "That's why they are seeking this kind of dialogue with the Americans: 'Tell the Ukrainians there's nothing to fight for.' We know this Russian rhetoric very well: 'There's nothing to fight for. Just 6,000 square kilometers.' We explain to our partners, and in my view, with full justification, why this is not the case."

Background:

In January, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ready for a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin to resolve two key issues within the framework of peace negotiations – territories and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
On 21–22 March, Ukraine held talks with the United States in Miami on ending the war, which US President's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff described as constructive in terms of narrowing the range of unresolved issues.
Zelenskyy also stated that Ukraine does not see Russia as being ready to end the war and insists on increasing pressure on Moscow, while the United States believes that the Kremlin leader allegedly seeks to bring the war to an end — which is why the parties' positions differ.

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