Zelenskyy ready to discuss most difficult issues with Putin, including territorial issue – Sybiha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to discuss the most difficult and sensitive issues with Russian dictator Putin, including the territorial issue. The venue does not matter to Kyiv, as long as it is not Moscow or Belarus.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said this in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Censor.NET reports.
Meeting
According to the minister, a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin could "take the negotiations to a new level". He stressed that the head of state is ready to discuss "the most difficult and delicate" issues, including territorial concessions.
Sybiha also commented on Moscow’s statement that Zelenskyy needed to travel to the Russian capital for talks: "This should not be taken seriously."
Asked where the leaders could meet, the minister replied: "It doesn’t matter to us. The main thing is that it is not Moscow or Belarus."
He named prisoner exchanges and the return of abducted children among the possible outcomes of the meeting.
Stubb and Støre’s call with Putin
Sybiha spoke positively about the 27 October phone call between Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Putin. According to him, it was a joint decision coordinated with Ukraine.
The main messages, according to the minister, were a demand for a ceasefire and a proposal for a meeting between the presidents.
Sybiha named confirmation that trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia would continue in Abu Dhabi in November as one of the important outcomes of the call.
"This meeting will show whether Russia is serious about ending the war through diplomacy," he stressed. According to him, there are currently no signs of such readiness.
United States and Europe
Sybiha stressed that it is unrealistic to end the war and secure genuine security guarantees without the United States. According to him, a stronger role for Europe should complement American efforts.
He advocated defining a new role for Europe in peace efforts: "We need a single, coordinated voice."
Background
- On 20 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway and said that, during talks with the Russians in St Petersburg, Witkoff would convey the security guarantee proposals that had been developed and already set out in the relevant document.
- On 21 October, Trump’s special envoy met Vladimir Putin at the Konstantinovsky Palace near St Petersburg. During the talks, Witkoff said that the conditions for a ceasefire were in place.
- Russian dictator’s aide Yuri Ushakov subsequently said Moscow was ready to resume trilateral talks with the United States and Ukraine as early as mid-November.
- Zelenskyy later confirmed that the United States had informed Kyiv of Russia’s readiness for a meeting between negotiating teams. According to him, Ukraine supports the proposal to hold talks as soon as possible.
- On 22 October, Russian dictator Putin said Moscow was ready to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States. According to him, the talks should aim to achieve a lasting peace and establish a security system for Russia and Ukraine.
- Speaker Johnson recently said the United States was already on the verge of trilateral talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
- Zelenskyy said the upcoming meeting between representatives of Ukraine, the United States and Russia in November would be a step towards talks between leaders. Possible topics for the November talks include halting attacks on energy infrastructure and at sea, restoring full grain exports and further prisoner exchanges.
