“Bringing peace to citizens of Ukraine”: Zelensky says ready for direct negotiations with Putin to end war

Ukrainian president says open to “four-way” talks as Trump seeks swift end to conflict

Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine, in this interview broadcast Tuesday night on the Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel.

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Asked by British presenter Piers Morgan about the possibility of negotiating with Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian president said he would do so “if this is the only configuration in which we can bring peace to the citizens of Ukraine and not lose people anymore.”

Zelensky “illegitimate” according to Putin

In this case, “we will accept this configuration, this meeting with four participants”, he continued. The Ukrainian president did not specify who the other participants would be, according to Le Monde, but the journalist had just mentioned the possibility of negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

This statement marks a new shift in the positioning of Volodymyr Zelensky, who has long ruled out the possibility of discussions with the Russian invader, saying he only wanted to beat it on the battlefield.

Trump's pressure

A Ukrainian decree, dated October 2022, had also ruled out any negotiations with Moscow as long as Vladimir Putin is president.

But the Ukrainian army is now in difficulty in the east of the country, facing the Kremlin troops and Donald Trump threatened to turn off the tap of American aid to kyiv, forcing both sides to sit down at the negotiating table. Vladimir Putin also said at the end of January that he was open to discussions, but not with Volodymr Zelensky whom he presents as “illegitimate”.