Zelensky Rejects Idea of Talks with Leaders of Pro-Russian Militants in Donbas

President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he will not meet and negotiate with the leaders of the occupying power in the territories of the  Donetsk and Luhansk regions not controlled by the Government of Ukraine.

“I do not intend to talk to terrorists. It is simply impossible in my situation,” the Head of State said in an interview with the Financial Times, commenting on the words of President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky insists that he wants a bilateral meeting with Putin.

In addition, he said at a briefing during a visit to the Chornobyl zone on Monday, 26 April, that he had instructed Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak to arrange a meeting with the Russian president.

“This meeting is likely to take place. I offered to meet in Donbas. The president of the Russian Federation confirmed a desire to meet, but invited me to meet in Moscow. I already instructed the head of the President’s Office to reach out to the administration of President Putin and agree on time and place of our meeting,” the President of Ukraine said.

According to him, the place and the date of the meeting are details, and only its essence matters.

Bohdan Marusyak