According to Russian news agency TASS, Ukrainian president Zelensky’s press secretary on Saturday has publicly stated that Zelensky has agreed to peace talks with Putin to negotiate a ceasefire:
KIEV, February 26. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal and is ready to negotiate peace and a ceasefire, Zelensky’s press secretary Sergey Nikiforov said on Saturday.
“I have to refute allegations that we have refused to have talks. Ukraine has always been and is ready to negotiate peace and a ceasefire. It is our permanent position. We have accepted the Russian president’s proposal,” he wrote on his Facebook account.
According to Nikoforov, consultations are underway about the place and time of the negotiations. The sooner talks begin, the more chances there will be to restore normal life, he noted.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Putin was ready to send a delegation to Minsk for talks with Ukraine. Later, he said that in response to the initiative to hold talks in the Belarusian capital city the Ukrainian side suggested Warsaw as a possible venue and still later lost contact.
RT has reported that Kiev requested Israel to serve as a mediator:
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk told the New York Times that Tel Aviv has yet to respond. “They didn’t say no. They are trying to figure out where they are in this chess play,” he said, adding “We do believe that Israel is the only democratic state in the world that has great relations with both Ukraine and Russia.”
This turn of events follows a video appeal Zelensky made on Friday to Putin for negotiations. According to CNN:
Speaking in Russian, Zelensky said: “I would like to address the President of the Russian Federation once again. There is fighting all over Ukraine now. Let’s sit down at the negotiation table to stop the people’s deaths.”
The CNN report further stated that Chinese leader Xi confirmed Putin’s willingness to negotiate with Kiev after a telephone call with the Russian president on Friday:
In a phone call Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin said Russia is “willing to conduct high-level negotiations” with Ukraine, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
The U.S., for it’s part, extended an offer to evacuate Zelensky from Kiev for his own safety, which Zelensky declined, stating he wanted to remain in the capital. However, the U.S. State Department does not appear to support the proposed negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents as Reuters reported that US State Department spokesman Ned Price said:
“Now we see Moscow suggesting that diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun, or as Moscow’s rockets, mortars, artillery target the Ukrainian people,” he said. “This is not real diplomacy. Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy.”
Let’s hope that these talks take place as soon as possible and a resolution is found to stop the war.
If the ukraine president doesn’t figure out he’s be used along ukraine citizens I feel bad for them. Amerikas neo-conns only care about themselves.
Absolutely! As an American I agree with you about our govt, plus nato & many European gov’ts are rife with Eurocentric arrogance & this idea they always know best.
I feel bad for Ukraine because they are treated & used like a pawn between big power brokers at the expense of their own poor people. Disgusting.
I hope the negotiations go well & Zelensky realizes this.
Heaven knows that US economic self-interest is rampant. But let’s be real. The killing of innocent people with no provocation over an international chess game between the US and Russia going on since the days of the S.U., is thoroughly unjustified. Using the Ukrainian people as pawns to push the US and NATO into a corner makes Putin a war criminal and a butcher.