Zelenskyy explains how ceasefire in Oleshky undermines Russia’s arguments in negotiations

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the experience of the ceasefire in Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, shows that a truce can be established quickly, without lengthy preparations, the withdrawal of weapons or the creation of buffer zones. In his view, the main obstacle remains Russian ruler Vladimir Putin's lack of political will.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN

Quote: "When we have meetings at the level of the negotiating teams – trilateral, bilateral, doesn't matter – different sides say that we need time to prepare a ceasefire. They say monitoring is difficult, we need to pull back the weapons, and Ukraine has to make a buffer zone.

The ceasefire in Oleshky showed – no. We don't have to. Warfare is different technologically now. You can monitor by drones. You will have evidence of violations, actual videos."

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the decision to establish a ceasefire in Oleshky was made very quickly and proved effective.

Quote: "I always said that it all comes down to Putin's political will. As we saw, the decision on the Oleshky ceasefire was made expeditiously. And it worked. I hope that we will find a way to push Putin to peace. We can do it with US mediation."

Read also: Everyone's afraid, but they're pressing on: how the local ceasefire in Oleshky became a test for a broader deal

Background:

• US First Lady Melania Trump said on 2 November that nearly 800 people had been evacuated as part of a humanitarian mission during the ceasefire in Oleshky, Kherson Oblast.
• Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said at a press conference that, under the agreements with the Russian side, the Ukrainian authorities would not disclose figures on how many residents of Oleshky had chosen to return to Ukraine and how many had left for territory controlled by the Russian Federation.
• Lubinets said he had agreed with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, to ask the US first lady to expand the humanitarian mission model used in Oleshky to other settlements facing difficult conditions.

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