Zelenskyy announces when negotiations with Russia can resume

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KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — SATURDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2022, 20:53

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that Ukraine can open negotiations with Russia after the return of all its territories within the borders of 1991, but there will be no return of relations with Russia that existed before the war.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with the Canadian channels CTV and CBC

Quote from Zelenskyy: “They (the Russians – ed.) can return our territory to us if they want to negotiate. They must withdraw from our land, the territory of our state; they must leave us our land within the internationally recognised borders of 1991. And then we will say, in what format and with whom we are ready to talk.

That is fair. In order to speak, you need to rewind to the moment when our states spoke. And this was before the war, before 2014. And from this point, you can try to solve the issue diplomatically.”

Details: Zelenskyy announced that the fake referendums and the so-called “accession” of the occupied Ukrainian territories by Russia put an end to the possibility of negotiations.

Nevertheless, the President expressed the opinion that in Russia “there will definitely be a leadership with which Ukraine will communicate in one way or another”.

“But under the conditions that there is no war. But under the conditions that this is not an ultimatum, but a dialogue; under the conditions of respect for our sovereignty, our nation, our state, our people, our laws. Under such conditions, of course, there will be communication”, he said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy has noted that the level of future relationship with Russia will also depend on whether Ukrainian lands will be returned by Russia, or whether Ukraine will return its lands by itself and at what price.

“Will there be a return to the relationship that existed before this war? I am sure there will not. They took many people and many lives. Society will not forgive them for this… You should not dictate to society how to treat another society of a state that wanted yesterday to wipe you off the face of the Earth. It will be the choice of our society – to talk to them or not to talk at all. And how many dozens of years, maybe more, will pass after this war, before societies start to communicate, no one knows”, said the President.