Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he sees a “window” of opportunity to achieve peace in the period before the US midterm elections in November. He said this in an interview with Sky News.
The head of state confirmed his readiness for negotiations with Putin and stressed that he would do everything possible to establish peace, but Ukraine would not agree to the loss of its territories. According to him, the United States has enough influence to help end the war, but this requires stronger pressure on Moscow.
“The United States is even stronger than they think about themselves. And I really think so. They can really put pressure on Putin. They can stop this war,” Zelensky said.
The president called on the administration in Washington to tighten sanctions against the families of the Russian leadership and provide Ukraine with more modern weapons. In his opinion, only increasing pressure will force Moscow to take the negotiation process seriously.
Answering a question about the prospects for ending the war, Zelensky stressed that the coming months will be decisive.
“Right now I think we have a chance. Between us, what I’m really thinking about next year… it depends on these months whether we will have a chance to end the war by the fall. Before the elections, important, influential elections in the United States. If we manage to achieve peace, we will have (a chance – ed.), now we have this window,” he said.
Commenting on the issue of victory, the President noted that it all depends on what meaning is put into this concept.
“It depends on what people mean when they say “win.” And, in fact, it is very difficult to talk about territories. First, how to return all the lands today is very difficult. And it will be too great a loss of human lives… But the good thing is that Russia cannot do this on the battlefield either. That’s why they don’t win, and we don’t lose,” he stressed.
Regarding possible concessions, in particular, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the head of state stated that this is a principled position.
“This is our territory, and I find it incredibly strange why we should retreat from our land? Why did they occupy our land, and no one can expel them? If we retreat from this territory, as you said, for example, from Sloviansk at this very moment, at this very moment, 200 thousand people who are there now will be occupied by the Russians. Who told Russia that these people are ready to become Russians? And if not, they will be killed, or pushed out to the front, or sent to prison,” Zelensky emphasized.
He also noted that another round of negotiations had ended in Geneva, which took place in two formats – separately with the American side and in a trilateral format with the participation of the US and Switzerland. The next meeting is scheduled for Abu Dhabi in early March.
