When Ukrainian troops reach Crimea, Putin will want to negotiate — Zelenskyy

He said this in an interview with ABC News.

Zelenskyy did not dispute a Washington Post report that Ukrainian officials told CIA Director William Burns during a recent trip to Kyiv that the goal of the counteroffensive was to get to the border with Crimea and then force Putin to start negotiations.

Asked by an ABC News reporter if it was "feasible," Zelenskyy said: "Well, it is absolutely clear, logical rhetoric that at that moment when Ukraine will reach the administrative border with a temporarily occupied Ukrainian peninsula, Crimea, it's very likely that Putin will be forced to seek dialogue with the civilized world, unlike how it was before the full-scale invasion, because he will be weakened."

Negotiations and peace efforts

On January 26, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he would only return to talks with Russia after their troops are withdrawn and Moscow admits its mistakes.

Later, Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Vershinin, expressed readiness to begin negotiations with Ukraine based on the current reality.

On February 23, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, presented a draft resolution on peace principles in Ukraine to the UN.

China also proposed its own "peace plan" in February, but visits by their special representative to Kyiv and Moscow did not result in significant negotiation progress.

On May 16, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that African countries have proposed a peace initiative to help resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On June 10, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed support for the peace initiatives put forth by African leaders regarding Ukraine.

During Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to the USA on June 22, Biden and Modi signed a joint statement on Ukraine. Modi pledged to work towards peace in Ukraine without explicitly mentioning the word "war."

In late April, Pope Francis disclosed the Vatican's participation in a peacekeeping mission to help end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In early June, Cardinal Zuppi visited Kyiv and held a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Vatican representative was informed by Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets about cases of murder, rape, and abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian military personnel. On June 28, the Pope's special envoy visited Moscow.