Ukraine has one state language - Ukrainian, said President Volodymyr Zelensky in response to Moscow's insistence that the Russian language be given the status of the second official language in the country, Ukrinform reported, quoted by BTA.
„We have a state language - Ukrainian. Russia can say whatever it wants. "I believe that these demands are only intended to set ultimatums and hinder the negotiation process," Zelensky stressed in a comment to journalists.
The Russian side claims that Crimea and Donbas are not the main reasons for the war, and sets the official recognition of the Russian language as a condition.
Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a long-term peace agreement is impossible if Kiev does not take into account Russian interests in the field of security and the rights of the "Russian-speaking population."
Ukrainian Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Olena Ivanovska described Russian President Vladimir Putin's demands for the official status of the Russian language and the legitimization of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine as unacceptable.