Zelenskyy: result, not venue, is key for future talks with Russia

The Ukrainian leader said this during a press conference following a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Zelenskyy noted that active discussions about potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are ongoing with partners, including the European Union and the United States.

“Every day we talk a lot about this, and we are ready. The dogma is not the venue, the dogma is the result — the end of the war. That is what we want. Therefore, we are open to any format so that Russia cannot again say: ‘We don’t really want this.’ Now you see the accusations: ‘We don’t want a Vatican or Geneva imposed by Western countries, or maybe Istanbul again, or maybe not Istanbul?’” Zelenskyy said.

He also expressed the opinion that Russia will continue to try to find reasons to avoid ending the war.

“Honestly, it doesn’t look very serious. They don’t want to go to neutral Geneva, they want to go to a NATO country, to Turkey. You see? So, the issue is not the country or its alliance. The issue is purely Putin, purely their delaying tactics. They constantly look for reasons to postpone the format in which the war can be ended. Everyone wants at least a ceasefire as a first step. Let’s do that. I think only through pressure. Otherwise, they just don’t want to do anything. And we are really waiting for sanction steps. We really expected them to present an agenda on their side, what they need... We waited for this until the exchange, then they said agenda or memorandum... After the exchange, we did not wait,” Zelenskyy said.

The president added that after the large prisoner exchange, the Ukrainian side contacted the Russian side, but there was no response.

“The minister of defense called the Russian Mr. Medinsky. Yes, they said it would happen, it would happen. But we never got to the point. Nobody did. We asked the United States of America; they are also waiting. Everyone is waiting. Probably, it is time not to wait but to take more serious steps,” Zelenskyy concluded.

• Earlier, the Kremlin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is possible, but must be the result of specific agreements. He also said that work on the Russian draft “memorandum” is in its final stage.