Saturday, March 12, 2022

Russia is already moving away from ultimatums, but full-fledged talks require the participation of Western partners - Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that it is impossible to occupy the Ukrainian people, so the war that Russia started against our country will inevitably end in our victory - it is only a matter of time. The Head of State said this during a meeting with representatives of foreign media.

"We know 100% there will be a victory, and we do not know 100% when it will be. Our diplomats are working and talking about some details of the agenda that may be between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. I would like this to happen, and it would be a real,

in practice, not verbal, settlement process. The process of peace, the process of ending the war," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to the President, at the beginning of the negotiation process to end the war, Russia often put forward ultimatums, which Ukraine did not agree to, and hostilities intensified. But today, instead of ultimatums, the conversation begins. And this is a fundamentally different approach.

"We see that the rapid operation - three or four days - did not happen. The occupation of our state, the change of leadership of our state, the change of the flag of our state did not happen. I am sure this will not happen. And even if a million Russian citizens are brought here to die, it is impossible to occupy Ukrainians. It is possible to occupy, block all cities, cover Ukraine with corpses of the Russian military, but it is impossible to occupy the mind of our people," the Head of State is convinced.

At the same time, the President stands for more active involvement of Western partners and leaders of Western countries in the negotiation process.

"Because when we talk about the points of guaranteeing the security of our state, after such a bloody war, Ukrainians simply will not be able to trust Russia. Therefore, in addition to the Russian Federation, these security guarantees must be offered by other leaders," he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that some of the leaders were informed about the issues that are being discussed between the Ukrainian and Russian sides.

The President believes that a ceasefire should be the beginning of negotiations to end the war. This, in particular, will unblock humanitarian processes: the evacuation of people affected by hostilities in the settlements, as well as the delivery of food, water and medicine.

"This is the correct human, diplomatic signal, from which the end of the war always begins in all normal, civilized times," he added.

The Head of State stressed the importance of receiving a signal from Russia on readiness for dialogue, which has not been the case in recent years.

"I think I held hundreds of talks with the leaders of other countries, giving them every opportunity to be negotiators, mediators, anyone, just to organize a meeting. You should know that all these thousands of people have died because Russia has never confirmed the possibility of a meeting. And this is their absolute responsibility, completely," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Answering the question about the theoretical possibility of Russian troops entering the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the President said that if tens or hundreds of thousands of troops currently being mobilized by Russia could come with hundreds or thousands of tanks, these troops could enter Kyiv.

"If they carry out a carpet bombing and simply decide to erase the historical memory of the whole region, the history of Kyivan Rus’, the history of Europe, they will enter Kyiv. If they destroy all of us, they will enter Kyiv. If this is the goal, they will enter and will have to live on this land alone, without us. They will not find friends among us here," the Head of State said.

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