On March 27, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is willing to discuss implementing a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia. He said that such a pact would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to the vote.
The Ukrainian President was speaking to Russian journalists over a video call. An interview that Russian media had been warned beforehand not to report. Zelenskiy said in Russian for the entirety of the interview, as he has always done in previous speeches while speaking to a Russian audience.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had destroyed many Russian-speaking cities, with the damage reported being worse than the Russian wars in Chechnya, said the Ukrainian President.
“Security guarantees and neutrality, the non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” he said.
He added that Ukraine had refused to discuss some of the demands made by Russia, such as the demilitarisation of Ukraine. He stated that it would not be possible to make peace negotiations without a ceasefire and Russia withdrawing its troops.
Worried about triggering a third world war, Zelenksiy ruled out efforts to try and recapture the territory held by Russia with force. He said Ukraine is willing to reach a “compromise” over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which has been under Russian control since 2014.
While speaking to the Russian journalists, he also focused on the future of Mariupol, an eastern port city that has been under siege for weeks. It was once a city that housed over 400,000 people; however, it has undergone prolonged airstrikes and bombardments at the hands of the Russian forces.
“All entries and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked,” Zelenskiy said. “The port is mined. A humanitarian catastrophe inside the city is unequivocal because it is impossible to go there with food, medicine and water,” he said.
He stated even the Russian wars in Chechnya could not be compared to the volume of destruction Ukraine has faced at their hands.
Ever since they first invaded Ukraine, Russia has continued to deny targeting Ukrainian civilians. Both the nations have been trading blame for failing to open up humanitarian corridors.
Zelenskiy pushed back at the claims made by Russia that Ukraine had curbed the rights of Russian speakers. He said that it was the Russian invasion that wiped those cities “off the face of Earth”
The negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine have always focused on Ukraine staying out of NATO, security guarantees and disarmament. The two nations are to meet for the second round of negotiations next week in Turkey.
Published By :- Shubham Agarwal
Edited By :- Kritika Kashyap
