Kiev has fundamentally changed its position on negotiations with the Russian aggressor.
Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that now Ukraine is ready for negotiations with Vladimir Putin, UNIAN agency reported.
„However, we are ready for a negotiation process under fair conditions. Under conditions that will truly lead to a sustainable, just world. "Russia is not ready for them," Zelensky's adviser said.
His comment was made after Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's visit to China.
„China absolutely clearly understands the role it plays today in a global and political sense. Of course, China is interested in stopping the war in Ukraine. Why? Because it breaks the rules, and China wants the rules to work. "Beijing has demonstrated a willingness to listen not only to the Russian side, but China has demonstrated a willingness, as a global player, to listen to Ukraine," Podoliak told "24 Channel".
The Kremlin has signaled it is open to talks with Ukraine to end the conflict while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in power, despite publicly expressing doubts about his legitimacy to rule, Reuters reported. Asked whether Russia is ready to talk with Ukraine while Zelensky is in power, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday: "Russia in general is open to a negotiation process. But first we need to find out how ready the Ukrainian side is for this and how much the Ukrainian side has permission for this from those who tell them what to do.
Moscow presents Zelensky as a puppet of the US, and he rejects this claim.
Russia's terms for ending the war are clear: Ukraine's capitulation, which means it gives up 1/5 of its territory, as well as future entry into NATO. Ukraine has long claimed that it will not negotiate with the Kremlin, even Zelensky signed the relevant decree. In recent days, however, a change has been noticed in Kyiv.