Zelenskyy on Russia's pickiness about platforms for negotiations: Just stalling for time

By refusing to negotiate on certain platforms, Russia is only trying to delay the end of the war against Ukraine. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy .

at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

"The platform is not a dogma, the result of [the negotiations] is the end of the war. That is why we are open to any format. So that Russia does not say once again: "But we don't want to...". Now, see what kind of accusations they make: "We don't really want it to be the Vatican imposed by Western countries." Maybe it will be Geneva, maybe it will be Istanbul again," Zelensky replied .

The Head of State emphasized that Moscow would always look for reasons not to end the war against Ukraine. He reminded that Russia does not want to go to the "neutral" Swiss Geneva, but is not against holding talks in Turkey, which is a NATO member.

"That is, the question is not what kind of country it is and what kind of alliance it is in. The question is solely about Putin. It is solely about their [Russian] postponement. They are constantly looking for reasons to postpone the format in which they can end the war," he added .

Zelenskyy is convinced that only collective pressure can force Russia to do "at least something" towards peace.

• on May 16, after the talks in Istanbul, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tikhiy said that the Russian delegation voiced things unacceptable to Ukraine during the negotiations. At the same time, he did not specify what exactly the occupiers said.
• Western media, citing Ukrainian diplomatic sources, wrote about yet another unrealistic demand of the Russian Federation: In particular, Moscow wanted Ukraine to withdraw its troops from its own territories. These are the parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions that the aggressor country illegally added to its constitution.
• On May 18, Zelenskyy informed US Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio about the unrealistic conditions for a truce that Russia put forward in Istanbul .