Ukrainian president no longer sees NATO alliance in country’s near future, prepared to “discuss and find a compromise on the points about the temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics.”
QUICK FACTS:
- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a dialogue, stressing that Ukraine is ready to talk and seek compromises, but is not ready to capitulate, Ukrainian news outlet Interfax reports.
- “First of all, I’m ready for a dialogue, but we’re not ready for surrender,” Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News.
- Zelenskyy was responding to questions as to whether Ukraine is ready to comply with the demands of the Russian Federation for a ceasefire, which include changing the country’s Constitution, refusing to join NATO, recognizing Crimea as Russian, and recognizing the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
- “Because it’s not about me, it’s about the people who elected me. Regarding NATO, I lost interest in this issue after we realized that NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of contradictory things and confrontation with the Russian Federation,” he added.
- “I’m talking about security guarantees. I think that we can discuss and find a compromise on the points about the temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics, which are not recognized by anyone except the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.
WHAT ZELENSKYY WANTS FROM RUSSIA’S PUTIN:
“What needs to be done is Putin needs to start talking, start a dialogue, instead of living in an information balloon without oxygen. I think that’s where he is,” President Zelenskyy said.
BACKGROUND:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Feb 24 that in response to a request by the leaders of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation, TASS reports.
- Ukraine argues the Russian offensive was completely unjustified and denies claims that it was planning to retake the rebellious republics by force.
- The Russian head of state stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
