Ukraine Ready for Negotiations, President Zelenskyy Outlines First Steps Towards Peace
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the first steps on the road to a lasting peace with Russia could be the release of prisoners, an immediate ceasefire in the sky and at sea, and Russia should do the same. He wrote about this on the social network X.
‘We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal,’ the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is ready to work ‘under the strong leadership of President Trump’ to achieve peace.
‘None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
We are ready to work fast to end the war...’ he said.
According to Zelenskyy, he appreciates and is grateful for how much America has helped Ukraine.
He also said that he regrets about the way the meeting at the White House went, and he wants to fix it.
‘Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive,’ the President of Ukraine said.
As for the agreement on minerals and security, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is ready to sign it ‘at any time and in any convenient format’.
‘We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,’ he added.
As The Gaze reported, on 28 February, Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump failed to sign an agreement on joint mining in Ukraine as a dispute arose during their joint meeting at the White House and they did not reach an agreement. The Ukrainian president left the Oval Office early after the US president's contradictory statements. Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine would not agree to a ceasefire without clear security guarantees.