© EPA / SERGEY DOLZHENKO According to the head of state, Putin's proposal for talks in Moscow is an attempt to stall for time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected an offer from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to come to Moscow to negotiate a settlement to the war, saying he cannot hold a dialogue in the capital of a country that is shelling Ukraine daily.
He stated this in a Friday interview with ABC News.
“He can come to Kyiv,” Zelensky said. “I can't go to Moscow when my country is under missile strikes, attacks every day. I can't go to the capital of this terrorist. Putin understands this.”
At the same time, the head of state stressed that he is open to negotiations in any other format, but considers Putin's proposal a deliberate attempt to postpone the meeting. Zelensky added that the Kremlin leader is “playing political games with the United States” instead of looking for real ways to peace.
For his part, Putin said on Wednesday that he had “never been against meeting with Zelensky” and invited the Ukrainian leader to come to Moscow. Zelensky responded that such an offer was unacceptable in the context of ongoing aggression.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said this week that a number of countries, including Austria, the Vatican, Switzerland, Turkey, and several Gulf states, have expressed their willingness to act as a platform for possible negotiations.
“If a person does not want to meet during the war, of course, they can offer something that may not be acceptable to me or others,” Zelenskyy concluded.
Let us recall that the President of Ukraine said that the very fact that the Kremlin is talking about the possibility of a meeting of leaders can already be considered a positive signal.
