The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, denied the statements that the then Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, allegedly disrupted a possible peace agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation in the spring of 2022, calling such statements illogical. About this informs The Guardian.
“There were several approaches with ultimatums, and I never agreed to it.” – noted Zelensky.
According to him, he personally made decisions about the negotiations, and Johnson had nothing to do with it:
“It doesn’t make sense; what was he supposed to be dissuading us from?”
The president also commented on rumors that Johnson used his surprise visit to Kyiv in April 2022 to allegedly ensure that Ukraine would not sign a peace agreement with the Russian Federation discussed at a meeting in Istanbul at the end of March of that year.
“Putin really likes this story, about Turkey, these meetings,” – noted Zelensky.
He noted that by the time Johnson arrived, the pressure to sign the agreement had already disappeared, and Russian troops had been pushed out of the suburbs of Kyiv. The President recalled that the Ukrainian and Russian delegations held several rounds of negotiations in Belarus and Turkey, but the demands of the Russian Federation were unacceptable.
“I said: this cannot happen, it violates the rights of our citizens, the constitution. It would be a complete betrayal, we will not obey Putin’s ultimatums.” – emphasized Zelensky.
He emphasized that statements about Johnson’s possible pressure on Ukraine to continue the struggle do not make sense, given the chronology of events:
“It can be imagined, it can be logical, that at a time when it was very difficult for us, we would be ready to agree to anything. We are being blackmailed, Johnson comes and says: we are with you, hold on, do not give in to Russia. You can somehow imagine it.”
According to the president, at the time of Johnson’s arrival, Russian troops had already been knocked out of the Kyiv region:
“When Johnson arrived, we walked together in Kyiv. We have already driven them out of the suburbs. Therefore, there is no logic in the fact that he could put pressure on me. He pressured me for what?”.
