RussiaSelenskyj: Would talk to Putin - "Consider him an enemy"
SDA
5.2.2025 - 08:20
ARCHIVE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as US President Biden speaks during an event on the Ukraine Compact on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. Zelenskyi thanked Biden for the new sanctions against Moscow. Photo: Susan Walsh/AP/dpa
Keystone
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is prepared to negotiate directly with Russia's head of state Vladimir Putin under certain conditions. In addition to Ukraine and Russia, the USA and Europe should also be involved in talks, Zelenskyi told British journalist Piers Morgan in an interview - although it was unclear whether he meant the EU or individual member states by "Europe". Morgan is close to US President Donald Trump, and the interview was apparently aimed at appealing to the conservative camp in the US.
Keystone-SDA
05.02.2025, 08:20
SDA
"If this is the only way to bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people, we will definitely go to this meeting with these four participants," said Selensky. He said of Kremlin leader Putin: "I will not be nice to him, I consider him an enemy, and frankly, I think he considers me an enemy too."
Putin has recently emphasized his alleged willingness to negotiate. However, he always points out that Zelensky himself has banned talks with him. This relates to a decree issued by the Ukrainian head of state in September 2022, after Russia annexed the four partially occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.
According to the wording, the decree does not prohibit negotiations with Putin, but declares them impossible in view of the situation. Selensky recently said that the document was intended to prevent possible separatism because Moscow was seeking uncontrolled channels of communication with Ukraine at the time.
Contacts between Kiev and Washington
Trump, who prides himself on his good relations with Putin, is pushing for an end to the war that has been going on for almost three years. However, the negotiating tactics of his new administration are not yet clear. However, Zelensky and his team have already used many channels in recent months to seek understanding from the Trump camp for Ukraine, which is under attack.
Selensky also reported contacts with Washington on Tuesday. "Our teams - the teams of Ukraine and the United States - have already begun to hold concrete talks," he said in his evening video address. The head of his presidential office, Andriy Yermak, had spoken with US security adviser Mike Waltz. "And we are preparing a schedule for meetings," said Selensky.
This could initially involve a visit to Kiev by Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg. The latter has set himself the goal of making progress in the first 100 days after Trump's inauguration. "We are finalizing the date and the participants. We are waiting for the team and will work together," Selensky told journalists in Kiev.
Selenskyj: Can reward aid with natural resources
Trump recently linked aid for Ukraine to access to its raw materials. This was met with criticism, including from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Selenskyj recalled that even before the US election in November, he had offered to show his appreciation for Western help with rare earths and other natural resources.
"We are open to developing all this with our partners who help us defend our country and push back the enemy with their weapons, their presence and with sanctions packages," said the Ukrainian president. He had already discussed this with Trump at a meeting in September 2024.
The question of nuclear weapons for Ukraine
In conversation with Morgan, Zelenskyi again raised the semi-rhetorical question of nuclear weapons for Ukraine. What security guarantees would his country receive if the hoped-for NATO accession was delayed for years or decades, he asked. "What support package, what missiles (will we get)? Or will we get nuclear missiles? Then we should be given nuclear missiles."
Ukraine surrendered the last Soviet nuclear weapons on its territory in 1994 in return for loose security assurances from Moscow, London and Washington. In retrospect, Selensky described this as a mistake.
Russian combat drones in the sky
The night into Wednesday began for large parts of Ukraine with yet another air alert, as Russian combat drones were spotted in the sky. Air defense was deployed on the eastern outskirts of the capital Kiev, wrote Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram. Media also reported explosions in Sumy in the north and in Kherson in the south.
In the town of Isjum in eastern Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on Tuesday killed at least five people and injured dozens more. Isjum was occupied immediately after the large-scale Russian invasion in March 2022. Ukrainian troops recaptured the city in September 2022. They hoisted their flag on the town hall, which has now been hit by the missile attack.