Zelenskyy on Russian "memorandum": It’s ultimatum, no one will take seriously
For the first time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the so-called "memorandum" handed over to Ukraine by Russia during talks in Istanbul on 2 June.
According to Censor.NET, citing Suspilne, the President said this during a briefing.
"This is an ultimatum, and neither Ukraine nor anyone else will take it seriously precisely because it's an ultimatum. In other words, this memorandum is a farce," he emphasized.
Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine had sent its document to Moscow in two languages — Ukrainian and English. However, the Kremlin responded with a "memorandum" written only in Russian. He noted that as of now, Ukraine has not received any "response" from Russia regarding the ceasefire proposal that Kyiv submitted ahead of the talks.
The President said that the first point of the Russian document is "a full-on ultimatum," as it demands international recognition of all occupied territories and the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from them.
"This clearly contradicts the UN Charter, common sense, and the Constitution of Ukraine. And by the way, they know that. This demand amounts to offering Putin the biggest possible reward for this war," the President added.
Zelenskyy also commented on the second point of the Russian "memorandum" — neutrality and the commitment not to join military alliances, including NATO. The President pointed out that Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, at a time when Kyiv already had a "non-aligned status."
"In other words, they invaded us — the occupation began when we already had non-aligned status. So again, there’s nothing to discuss here. This is clearly what he wants. Why? To take advantage, of course, of the occupation of our state," the President added.
As reported earlier, Russia has published a so-called "peace memorandum," which was handed over to Ukraine during negotiations held on June 2 in Istanbul. The document includes, in particular, provisions on Ukraine’s neutrality and international recognition of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
