Putin says negotiations with Ukraine must be based on 'reality on the ground'
Russia is ready to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, but only if the talks are based on previous agreements and the "current reality on the ground", president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday during his annual question-and-answer session.
In response to a question from US broadcaster NBC, Putin said he was even ready to compromise, without giving details. "Politics is the art of compromise," he said. He accused Ukraine of refusing to negotiate.
Putin also said that any negotiations should be based on the "current reality on the ground" and on previous agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022. He said Ukraine had signed a document before former British prime minister Boris Johnson convinced them to "fight to the last Ukrainian".
According to the BBC, in those negotiations in 2022, Russia demanded that Ukraine give up Crimea and Donbass, reduce its army and give up its aspirations to become a NATO member.
US security guarantees
But those demands are unacceptable to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels, he said that Ukraine needs NATO membership, or at the very least security guarantees from the US and president-elect Donald Trump. "He's a strong man and I want him very much on our side," Zelensky said.
Zelensky also stressed that any ceasefire talks must also provide clarity for the longer term. "If not, you just have a frozen conflict," he said. He does not believe Putin wants peace. "He is very dangerous, he does not care about human lives," he said. "I think he is crazy."
"[Putin] is very dangerous, he does not care about human lives"
In the meantime, Zelensky urged his European partners at the summit to provide 19 additional air defence systems to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure from Russian bombing. "If not, we risk losing 4 to 5 gigawatts next winter."
© PHOTO ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP
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