16.11.2024 13:26
(Akt. 16.11.2024 17:57)
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Zelenskyj wants to put Ukraine in a strong position for negotiations ©APA/dpa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is aiming to end the war with Russia next year “through diplomatic means.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want peace at all,” Zelensky said in an interview on Ukrainian radio broadcast on Saturday.
Ukraine cannot negotiate with Russia alone
In the interview, Zelenskyj referred to the “really complicated” situation on the front in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army has been advancing for months. “For our part, we must do everything to ensure that this war ends next year,” Zelensky said. “We have to end it through diplomatic means,” he added.
When asked about preconditions for starting negotiations with Russia, Zelensky said such talks would only be possible if Ukraine was “not alone with Russia” and in a “strong” position. “If we only talk to Putin, only to a murderer” and Ukraine is not “strengthened” beforehand, it could only “lose” in such negotiations, said Zelensky.
Scholz calls Putin
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Putin on the phone for the first time in almost two years on Friday afternoon. According to his own statements, he called on the Kremlin leader to “withdraw his troops” and to show that he was ready to negotiate with Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin, Putin insisted in the phone call with Scholz that a possible agreement must reflect the “new territorial realities”. Moscow’s preconditions for negotiations include that Ukraine give up four of its southern and eastern regions that Russia declared annexed without fully controlling them. Kiev firmly rejects this.
“Pandora’s Box”
After the phone call, Zelenskyj accused Scholz of opening a “Pandora’s box” with his phone conversation with Putin. “This is exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation,” the Ukrainian president said in online services. However, he confirmed that Scholz had informed him about the phone call in advance.
The heads of state and government of the seven leading democratic industrialized countries (G7) confirmed their willingness to continue to impose sanctions on Russia because of the war it started against Ukraine. “Russia remains the only obstacle to a just and lasting peace,” they said in a joint statement. It was adopted “in support of Kiev in view of the approaching thousandth day of the Russian war of aggression.”
“We stand with Ukraine”
“The G7 reaffirms its determination to impose heavy costs on Russia through sanctions, export controls and other effective measures. We stand with Ukraine,” the statement continued. This year, Italy holds the presidency of the G7, which also includes the USA, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Great Britain.
Meanwhile, Russian forces captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. These are the towns of Makarivka and Hryhorivka in the Donetsk region. Makarivka is located south of Velyka Novosilka. Hryhorivka, which bears its former name Leninskoye in Russia, is located west of the city of Selydove, which was captured by Russian troops in October.
Such reports about the fighting cannot be independently verified. However, Russian troops have been advancing slowly but steadily on the Eastern Front for some time now, and the Ukrainian units are under considerable pressure.
