Zelensky: Trump can bring Putin to the negotiating table.
Volodymyr Zelensky, indicating his country’s readiness to negotiate with Russia, stressed that US President Donald Trump could bring his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, to the negotiating table.
The Ukrainian president claimed that Moscow does not respect the rules, but respects the United States and Donald Trump.
He also said, “If the Russians really want to end the war or are ready to end the war, they should turn to the diplomatic path. I have also told the US president that the door to negotiations through diplomacy is open for Kiev.”
Zelensky further announced that Russia is trying to win in the Pokrovsk region and take control of the entire Donetsk region to convince Trump that Ukraine should withdraw its forces from the entire eastern Donbass, that is, from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The Ukrainian president added, “There is no guarantee that if Russian separatist forces capture one city or another, they will not go further.” There are no deterrents.
He stressed that any decision on the withdrawal of troops is a matter for military commanders on the ground to make.
Zelensky’s comments came after Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexei Polishchuk said on Wednesday that “the Russian team is ready for these talks, the ball is now in Ukraine’s court.”
The last face-to-face meeting between the two sides was held in Istanbul on July 23, but it lasted only 40 minutes.
At that meeting, the Ukrainian delegation had proposed a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in August.
However, the Kremlin said Putin was willing to meet Zelensky only in Moscow, a condition that was rejected by Kyiv.
The war in Ukraine was sparked by the West’s disregard for Moscow’s security concerns about the expansion of the NATO military alliance. In response to the West’s disregard for its security concerns, Russia attacked Ukraine on March 27, 1402. During this time, the United States and NATO member states have fueled the war by sending extensive military aid to Kiev and have preferred confrontation over de-escalation by equipping Ukraine with heavy weapons. They have also imposed more than 30,000 sanctions on Russia.