Zelenskiy and Putin would only meet when the “great battle of Donbas” ends

Ukrainian presidential adviser and chief negotiator of the peace talks with Russia, Mikhailo Podoliakhas estimated this Sunday that his superior, Volodymyr Zelenskyand its Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putinthey will only agree to meet to resolve the war in Ukraine when the imminent “big battle” in the region of donbasin the east of the country.

At the end of last month, Russia announced the cessation of its operations against the country’s capital, Kyivas well as from other central and northern areas, to concentrate their efforts on the conquest of Donetsk and Luganskdisputed since 2014 between the Ukrainian government and separatist forces close to Russia.

“Ukraine is always ready for a big battle. We have to win it, particularly in Donbas. After that, we will have a stronger negotiating position, which will allow us to dictate certain conditions,” Podoliak explained in comments collected by Sky News. And already then “the presidents will meet, but that could take two to three weeks“, Podoliak has indicated.

Ukraine and Russia have held meetings at the technical and even ministerial level in recent weeks without any result. Russia demands Ukraine to disarmhis renounce entry into NATO and the consolidation of Russian as a language in the countryas well as the cessation of any attempt to recognize their sovereignty over Crimea and the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

kyiv has declared that many of these terms are absolutely unacceptable.

However, Zelensky has once again requested a direct meeting with Putin this Saturday, the only person qualified in his opinion to order the suspension of the Russian invasion of the country that began on February 24 and that has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe.

“Today, Ukraine has no choice but to sit at the negotiating table,” Zelensky said of the difficult ministerial peace talks that began a few weeks ago. However, the Ukrainian leader has insisted that the solution lies in a summit with the leader of the Kremlin. “In Russia, no one else has the power to stop this war. Only he (Putin) decides when it will end,” the president explained in an interview published this Saturday by the German newspaper ‘Bild’.