Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday responded to Russian President Vladimir’s request for talks with Ukraine.
Zelensky confirmed that he will not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is its president, shortly after the latter requested negotiations from Kyiv to stop the fighting.
Putin made the proposal to hold talks with Kyiv during the signing ceremony of the annexation of Ukraine’s Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to Russia.
“We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately stop fighting, stop all hostilities… and return to the negotiating table,” the Russian president said.
In response to the proposal, Zelensky, in a video posted on the Internet, said that “Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is president of the Russian Federation. We will negotiate with the new president.”
On the other hand, President Zelensky announced that Ukraine will sign an urgent request to join NATO, a few minutes after Russia officially announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
“We take a decisive decision by signing Ukraine’s candidacy for the urgent entry into NATO,” Zelensky said in the clip.
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