Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenksky has rejected Vladimir Putin’s demands to recognize Crimea as part of Russia in order to stop the war, saying that said there are “compromises” that Ukraine cannot make.
“There are compromises for which we cannot be ready as an independent state,” Zelensky said during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.
“Any compromises related to our territorial integrity and our sovereignty and the Ukrainian people have spoken about it, they have not greeted Russian soldiers with a bunch of flowers, they have greeted them with bravery, they have greeted them with weapons in their hands,” the Ukrainian president added.
Putin is also demanding that the two territories in the Donbas are recognized as independent republics, and they guarantee that Ukraine will never be a member of NATO, a demand that Zelensky has also rejected. demand.
“Russia cannot curry favor with the citizens of another country forcibly,” Zelensky said. “You cannot just make a president of another country to recognize anything by the use of force,” he added.
During the interview, Zelensky said he is ready to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but warned that if any negotiation attempts fail, it could mean the fight between the two countries would lead to “a third World War.”
