Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to negotiate sensitive issues directly with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in order to reach an agreement to end the war between the two countries, which has been ongoing for nearly four years, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday.
The most sensitive issues in the negotiations toward a settlement have not yet been resolved, Foreign Minister Sybiha noted in statements to the Ukrainian news website European Pravda.
He was referring to territorial issues and to the fate of the nuclear power plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is occupied by Russian troops.
Mr Zelensky is ready to meet with Mr Putin in order to resolve the outstanding issues, Mr Sybiha said.
Russia is demanding territorial concessions from Ukraine before agreeing to discuss a ceasefire, in particular the full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas, that is, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as from two other regions that Moscow says it has annexed.
The nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Europe, was seized by Russian forces in March 2022, a few weeks after the invasion.
Mr Zelensky has repeatedly demanded to meet with Mr Putin in the past, something the Kremlin generally treats with caution.
Over the weekend, negotiators from Kyiv and Moscow held direct talks, the first in months, in the United Arab Emirates, with U.S. mediation. They are expected to meet again on Sunday, 1 February, in Abu Dhabi.
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Photo source: Executive Digest
Source: ANA-MPA-dpa
