Volody­myr Zelensky ‘open to facing’ Vladimir Putin

Ukrainian leader Volody­myr Zelensky says he would agree to direct talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end almost three years of war.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian leader Volody­myr Zelensky says he would agree to direct talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end almost three years of war.

There is high anticipation of talks to begin with US President Donald Trump in the White House as the third anniversary of Moscow’s invasion approaches.

In an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan posted on YouTube overnight on Tuesday, Mr Zelensky was asked how he would feel if he sat opposite Putin at a negotiating table. He said: “If that is the only set-up in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, definitely we will go for this set-up.

“I will not be kind to him, I consider him an enemy. To be honest, I think he considers me an enemy, too,” the Ukrainian leader added.

He said he would be with “four participants”. He did not specify who the participants were, but Morgan earlier spoke of hypothetical talks between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the US.

Putin last week said Moscow would hold talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly to Mr Zelensky.

Both countries have tried to rush an advantage on the battlefield ahead of possible talks – which so far remain hypothetical.

Kyiv has struggled to hold back Russian forces and Mr Zelensky conceded that Ukraine was unlikely to get back some of the territory it had lost to Russia.

“Regrettably, the support that is provided by our partners is insufficient to push Putin fully out of our territories,” he said.

The EU and Kyiv share some concerns that Mr Trump would force Kyiv to make unfair concessions to Moscow.

Mr Zelensky also repeated that a road map for Ukraine to join NATO remained Kyiv’s favoured way to end fighting and get “security guarantees”.

AFP