Zelensky on the talks in Istanbul: The Russians admitted that their memorandum is an ultimatum
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with the Hungarian publication Válasz Online that Russia directly told the Ukrainian delegation during the negotiations in Istanbul that its memorandum was an ultimatum that Ukraine would not accept.
"We want to stop the war, but this requires the will of both sides. If the other side is not ready for this, it will always come up with something. So the question is not the quality of the Istanbul format, but what to do with the lies of the Russians," Zelensky noted.
The President also emphasized that Ukraine needs strong mediators who will not allow the Russians to withdraw from the agreements reached at the negotiating table.
"The United States has not yet shown itself to be a strong mediator: the Russians said they should not be at the negotiating table, and they simply left. Why? Because of their soft policy towards Russia," Zelensky said.
The Head of State emphasized that Russian tactics are aimed at weakening the positions of Ukraine's Western partners and delaying the negotiation process.
"Russians are the absolute world champions of lies. If the issue of war is only part of a larger geopolitical puzzle, the position of partners will weaken," Zelensky said.
The President called on the mediator countries not to be guided by economic interests, but to focus on the essence – stopping the war and protecting lives.
Regarding possible compromises, Zelensky stressed that the Ukrainian delegation has a mandate only for humanitarian issues: the exchange of prisoners, the return of abducted children, a ceasefire. At the same time, discussions on sovereignty and territorial integrity are outside the mandate.
"My job is to conduct a dialogue about the territories that were stolen by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin . But we do not recognize these territories as Russian. If we receive real security guarantees, then we will be able to resolve the issue of territories diplomatically, not with weapons," he noted.
- The second round of talks between Ukraine and Russia took place in Istanbul on June 2. The meeting resulted in an agreement, in particular, on a new exchange of prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
- On the same day, Russian propagandists published the so-called memorandum that the Russian Federation had handed over to Ukraine during the negotiations.
- Russian Deputy Security Council Chairman Medvedev made a statement about the "real goal" of the Istanbul talks. Republican Senator Graham said that Russia had made it clear that it was not interested in peace.
