Neutrality of Ukraine, non-nuclear status. Compromise on the Donbass but no to the demilitarization of the country. Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, in an interview with the Russian media indicates the points on which an agreement could be reached with Moscow to end the war. In the interview, Zelensky also accuses Vladimir Putin of prolonging the war by delaying the peace negotiations. The video of the long interview, an hour and a half, was published by the independent portal Meduza, after the Russian media authority Roskomnadzor had banned the newspapers of the journalists who had participated – including Kommersant and Novaya Gazeta – from publishing the interview.
“We want to reduce the number of victims, the duration of the war as much as possible, we want the troops to withdraw to the positions prior to the attack”, says Zelensky while offering “a compromise on the difficult issue of the Donbass”. “We will not sit at the table at all if all they want to talk about is demilitarization or denazification, but these are incomprehensible things”, he clarifies, underlining however that he is not “against” the talks with the Russians “granted that there are results”.
“I understand that it is impossible to force Russia to totally liberate the Ukrainian territories because it would lead to the third world championship, I understand it perfectly – he says – but I say that this is a compromise: go back to where it all started and let’s try to resolve the difficult issue of the Donbass”.
Zelensky says he is ready for a new exchange of prisoners after the one on March 24: “The lists are being prepared, we have the data of all the soldiers captured”. Availability to agreements for the recognition of the Russian language in Ukraine: “I am sure that the issue of the language will be at the center of the agenda” of the negotiations.
The president focuses in particular on the drama of the city of Mariupol. “It is a humanitarian catastrophe, because it is impossible to bring food, water, medicine, the Russian military bombs the humanitarian convoys, they kill the drivers”, he said, denouncing the “forced removal of people” to Russia, in particular of 2 thousand children.
“The reality is this, the city is completely blocked by the Russian army, all entrances and exits from the city of Mariupol are blocked, the port is mined”, says Zelensky, reiterating that the “humanitarian catastrophe within the city is unequivocal. “. Regarding the deportations to Russia, he stated that “according to our information, over 2 thousand children have been taken away, that is, stolen. The exact destination is unknown. They are both with and without parents”. “It’s a disaster, it’s frightening, they are kept as souls for an exchange. To make you understand what the city is like, there are corpses on the streets, on the sidewalks – he concludes – the bodies are simply abandoned, no one removes them, Russian soldiers and citizens Ukrainians “.
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