Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out peace talks with “terrorist” Russian invaders.
The Ukrainian president explained that he was “not ready” for talks with Moscow unless Vladimir Putin withdraws troops from his country amid speculation that US and European officials had held discussions about negotiations to end the conflict with his government.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelensky said: “(The United States) know that I am not ready to speak with the terrorists, because their word is nothing.
“For today, I don’t have any relations with the Russians, and they know my position. They have to go out from our territory, only after that, the world can switch on diplomacy.”
Zelensky also denied comments from Ukraine’s commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhny that the conflict is deadlocked but did acknowledge that Kyiv is in a “difficult situation”.
The heroic leader said: “On the frontline, it is not a secret, we don’t have air defence. That’s why Russia controls the sky. If they control all the sky, until the movement when we get air defence, we can’t move quickly forward.”
Zelensky feels that the war between Israel and Hamas has drawn attention away from his country and thinks that it is “Putin’s goal”.
He said at the weekend: “Of course, it’s clear that the war in the Middle East, this conflict, is taking away the focus.”