President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for a dialogue with Russia on the issue of Crimea, as well as the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). The day before, the Kremlin said that the Russian Federation would stop the military operation in Ukraine on three conditions: if Kyiv recognizes Crimea as Russian, recognizes the independence of the DPR and LPR, and also refuses to join “any bloc.”
Mr. Zelensky, in an interview with ABC, noted that no one except the Russian authorities recognized the independence of the DPR and LPR, and also called them “pseudo-republics.” “But we can discuss and find a compromise on how the occupied territories and these republics will exist. What is important for me is how people who want to be part of Ukraine will live there,” the president said.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine “is not ready for ultimatums.” He is convinced that “Vladimir Putin needs to start talking, start a dialogue.” According to Vladimir Zelensky, his Russian colleague “lives in an information bubble.” “I think he is in this bubble, and we don’t know how realistic the information that he receives,” the President of Ukraine said.
He also said that he was not ready to surrender because he was the elected president. He confirmed that Western countries offered him to leave Ukraine, but he refused to do so. In addition, Mr. Zelensky commented on the words of Vladimir Putin that the military operation is being carried out to “denazify and demilitarize” Ukraine.
“I think that denazification in this case is the destruction of the nation… This is pure Nazism, this is the destruction of the Ukrainian nation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added. Vladimir Putin has previously explained that by denazification he means the removal of the influence of radical Nazi ideology on the politics of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Western countries responded by imposing tough anti-Russian sanctions and increased the supply of weapons to Kiev. At the same time, they refuse to send troops to Ukraine. Some countries also do not support Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to close the skies over Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry says Mr. Zelensky seeks to provoke conflict between Russia and NATO
Read about the progress of the Russian military operation in the Kommersant online broadcast.