Ukrainian and Russian officers will meet for peace talks "with out preconditions," President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced.
Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Company by way of Getty Pictures
Ukraine has agreed to fulfill Russian officers for peace talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced Sunday — earlier than shortly admitting he expects any discussions to show futile.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation with out preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, close to the Pripyat River,” Zelensky mentioned in a press release, with a prime Ukraine official including that the talks are set for Monday.
However inside hours of creating the announcement, Ukraine’s defiant president brazenly questioned the probabilities of success.
“I do probably not consider within the end result of this assembly, however allow them to attempt,” Zelensky mentioned in his newest video deal with. “In order that later not a single citizen of Ukraine has any doubt that I, as president, tried to cease the battle, when there was even a small, however nonetheless an opportunity.”
The deliberate talks — which Ukraine’s ambassador to the US informed CNN have been set for Monday — got here after Zelensky mentioned he had an encouraging dialogue with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, one of many Kremlin’s predominant allies and one of many nation’s from the place Russain troops swept in from Thursday.
Lukashenko promised that “all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory stay on the bottom through the Ukrainian delegation’s journey, talks and return,” Zelensky mentioned.
Belarusian state tv has mentioned the peace talks would happen at a Aleksandrovka and Vilcha border checkpoint. Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned his delegation is already in Belarus.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, pressured that Zelensky would “undoubtedly not” be there in individual.
“President Zelensky decided to defend the nation,” she mentioned of the chief who acknowledged he was probably Russia’s No. 1 goal.
“So he’s in Kyiv, with the armed forces, with folks with Ukraine, defending the nation,” she mentioned.
She famous that it's onerous to infer how severely Putin is taking any peace talks on condition that he launched and is constant his “full-fledged battle” towards Ukraine. Putin on Sunday additionally ordered Russian nuclear forces to be placed on excessive alert over unfounded claims of NATO threats.
“There's an ongoing, full-fledged battle with battle crimes performed by Russians in Ukraine each day. So how real is that this proposal? We don’t know,” Markarova mentioned.
“We're prepared for peace talks, however we aren't able to give up,” she informed CNN.
“We are going to defend our nation — and we are going to win,” she mentioned.
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