Ukraine's Zelenskyy tells Arnab he's 'Ready to meet Vladimir Putin without preconditions'

Speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, in a big statement of intent, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he's ready to meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin and also simultanously carry on the diplomatic path without stressing on getting security guarantees. Zelenskyy said, "We don't want the war to continue for long and for us talks are more important than getting security guarantees ahead of dialogue," also adding he doesn't want to put any conditions before the talks begin, Zelenskyy affirmed, "We don't want to put any preconditions to talks with Putin, security guarantees can happen in parallel."

Zelenskyy talking on the issue of security guarantees said, he is ready to get guarantees from Turkey, China and India too. However the talks with Putin can also continue without any mention about security guarantees.

Earlier in March, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had proposed to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Jerusalem, according to Russian state-owned media RT. Zelenskyy also informed that he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to act as an intermediary. However, the situation in the warzone, specifically the genocide in Bucha has complicated matters and tensions, even as the two countries continue to hold talks and Russia has withdrawn from Kyiv and Chernihiv. He said that the talks with Russia should be held in neutral territory and suggested Israel.

“We spoke with [Israeli Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett, and I said that today it is not right [to hold] meetings in Russia, in Belarus. I’m not talking about technical meetings – I’m talking about leaders’ meetings. Do I think that Israel can be such a land, and Jerusalem? Yes, I think so. And I told him that,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by RT.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also suggested his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Turkish cities of Istanbul or Ankara. Notably, Erdoğan has informed Putin about the offer.

IMAGE : REPUBLIC