“I am ready for negotiations with (Vladimir Putin). I have been ready for the past two years and I think that without negotiations we will not stop the war,” he said on the American channel.
The negotiations between kyiv and Moscow that have taken place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24 are “very important”, he underlined.
Turkey, which is stepping up mediation efforts between Moscow and kyiv, assured Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had made progress in their negotiations.
But “regardless of the discussions between our negotiating teams, I think only the two of us, me and Putin, can reach an agreement,” Zelensky said.
“If there is only a 1% chance of stopping this war, we must seize it,” he said. “Dialogue is the only way out” of the conflict, and “it is through dialogue that we can resolve the issues of security guarantees for Ukraine”, he assured.
Some compromises rejected
But he rejected certain compromises, such as the recognition of the separatist territories in the east of the country.
“You can’t just ask Ukraine to recognize territories as independent republics,” he said.
“I can’t recognize (them), first as president, then as a citizen, and thirdly because you can’t force people to love their enemies. It’s impossible,” he said. Explain.
An agreement to end hostilities must mention that Ukraine “will not lose its sovereignty and territorial integrity”, he said.
Faced with a Russian army entering Ukraine to “exterminate” the population, “we must use all the formats, all the chances of having the possibility of negotiating, the possibility of talking to (Vladimir) Putin”, repeated the Ukrainian president .
“But if these attempts fail, it will mean that (the conflict in Ukraine) is a third world war,” he warned.
The day before, Mr. Zelensky had already pleaded for negotiations, in a video posted on social networks.
“It’s time to come together. It’s time to talk. It’s time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine,” he said.