Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC News in an interview that aired Monday night that he had “cooled down” on the idea of Ukraine joining NATO and is open to talks with Russia about the future of the Donbas and Crimea.
“Regarding NATO, I have cooled down regarding this question long ago after we understood that NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “The alliance is afraid of controversial things and confrontation with Russia. I never wanted to be a country which is begging something on its knees. We are not going to be that country, and I don’t want to be that president.”
Regarding Crimea and the Donbas, Zelensky said Ukraine is not prepared for Russian “ultimatums” but is ready to discuss the status of the territories. “The people who elected me are not ready to surrender. We are not ready for ultimatums,” he said. “But we can discuss with Russia the future of Crimea and Donbas.”
Russia has said that it would stop its assault if Ukraine declares neutrality, recognizes Crimea as Russian territory and recognizes the independence of the breakaway Donbas republics of Donestk and Luhansk. Zelensky’s comments signal that he might be willing to make a deal with Moscow.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have held three rounds of talks since Russia started its invasion. In the latest round, both sides said little progress was made except for agreements on humanitarian corridors, but the negotiations are expected to continue.
Sources told The Jerusalem Post that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was told in a March 5 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia had already given Zelensky a “final offer” to resolve the crisis. The sources said the offer was “difficult” for Ukraine but not “impossible” and said it involved the terms listed above as well as Ukraine shrinking its military.
So all Zelinskeyy needs to do is cut a deal and the war is over what is he waiting for?
Good question.
Keep in mind that Zelensky told voters he would mend relations with Russia if elected. His word doesn’t mean much.
His masters in Washington told him what to say to get elected , once in power his US masters took over the country , he could have been a great leader Russia one side the EU the other Ukraine in the middle all that trade flowing from the EU to Russia , all he had to do was declare Ukraine NEUTRAL .
I recall Trump said the same thing, and a less violent way of boxing him in was found, but it was every bit as effective.
My uneducated guess is he is stalling. We can pump more “resources” into Ukraine to keep it going. There is more substantial talk of aircraft coming into Ukraine, The Azov militia is preventing people from leaving. They have been busy (until lately) pummeling the people in the Donbas. Yeah. He is stalling. He could end it right now. So could Biden.
They can do what they like Putin isn`t going to call a halt until His objectives are reached , what they are i have no idea.
I think Putin has spelled out his objectives fairly clearly, Ukrainian neutrality and denazification and independence for the Donbas.
Combat situation as of 7.March evening day 14
https://m.readovka.news/news/90472
He could have done a deal years ago , but he is not in control , people must realize he is under the control of Washington , he can`t do a deal without permission from his master in the US , it`s the same with the Europeans , they have to get Washingtons permission before they do anything ,.
He also has the Azov Battalion to deal with.
I’m with you… Let him get on with it!
He’s waiting because his biggest fear is still the same reason he wouldn’t implement the Minsk agreements: fear of his own neo-nazis, organized and armed by the State Dept / CIA. They’d kill him if he gives an inch faster than the Russians would.
What does he get from Russia?
Right now it’s like a bully punching you and saying “if you give me your lunch money, I’ll stop punching you,” with no assurance he won’t punch you later
The right to live in peace in the rump “Ukraine”, if he so wishes.
did Russia offer that?
Has Washington cleared this? Don’t want to piss them off and have peace break out.
Well said, Wars, well said 👏
Western Media will not report that the population in Eastern Ukraine had been requesting Moscow to send Russian troops to save them from American-backed invaders and Neo-Fascist militias called Banderites.
Currently the main clashes of the Russian Army are not taking place with regular units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but with nationalist banderite formations, which are directly responsible for the genocide in Donbass and the bloodshed of civilians in the people’s republics.
Banderite forces have been indiscriminately shelling and attacking the Donbass for over 7 years. Where were all the bleeding heart liberals then? Killing ethnic Russians was acceptable, they are subhuman right?
Biden’s claim that the Russian invasion was unprovoked is complete nonsense (Iraq WMD’s anyone?) the fact is that Ukraine precipitated the war by attacking the breakaway eastern provinces in violation of the Minsk peace agreements. The Minsk agreements were in place after Ukraine previously twice precipitated a war by attacking the breakaway eastern provinces causing significant civilian casualties.
Strictly factual info.
Thank You, Doom.
Right. Whitehouse hearts must have stopped when they heard this. At the least it’s exposed him for an outrageous fraud. “Fight to the death,” “To beor notto be,” fight on the hills, on the beaches, etc. ” etc., calling his people to suffer and die, which they did, and all along it was just a B-list actor bluffing NATO to join the frey or Russia to back down. The cipher apparently doesn’t understand that with so much invested blood, treasure, and Imperial prestige, unlike the POTUS, he can’t double-cross The Blob and his own people and live happily ever after.
He’s a non-entity on drugs. Russia will create the reality on the ground while he dithers. I agree with vlp1730 – he’s stalling because the neocons are telling him they’re going to put up a no-fly zone. In reality, what the neocons probably intend is a war between NATO and Russia.
If a no fly zone is put up the Russians will ignore it any air craft shot down by the US / NATO will herald WW3 , alledegedly 4 young brainwashed British soldiers have gone AWOL to join the Ukraine NAZI FACIST ARMY , the Brits are craping themselves because if they are caught Russia can claim Britian is at war with Russia.
“Russia will create the reality on the ground”
Ah, the old “we create reality” doctrine!
The aide [to George W. Bush] said that guys like me were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” — Ron Suskind, New York Times, 10/17/2004
I wonder if Putin will be any better at magically creating new realities than Bush was?
Seems an unavoidable side effect of empire thinking … “creating our own reality” … isn’t that a perfect summary of modern diseased thinking?
Yes, because he’s not as stupid as Bush. Fun thing I just quoted that Rove line to someone else as evidence that the neocons can’t be trusted to stop planning the next disaster.
At best, Russia is having issues creating that reality; unless of course the desired reality was total chaos, which is possible though odd for a neighbor.
In thinking over this jet nonsense, I’ve come up with a new “conspiracy theory.”
Russian military expert Andrei Martyanov has been saying for some
time that this whole thing is about the US sacrificing the EU economy in
order to bolster the US economy by forcing the EU to buy from the US,
not Russia. That makes sense to me – it’s all about the money.
Well, I think it’s worse than that. I ran this by him and I think he
agrees. I think what is actually happening is that the US has decided to
sacrifice NATO in a war with Russia. The US itself will stay at arms
length in this war, letting NATO do most of the fighting, with the
excuse that they can’t respond with reinforcements in time. The US will
even allow Russia to destroy the 30,000 US soldiers in Germany and all
these other soldiers recently sent to Eastern Europe. The US elites
couldn’t care less about the lives of US soldiers or they wouldn’t be
starting all these pointless wars. Besides, if US soldiers get killed,
the US electorate will happily support the war, especially if it’s
mostly NATO soldiers dying subsequently.
What matters is that after this war is over (without escalating to WWIII, by the way – they hope), the US military-industrial complex will be raking in profits from the EU, because the EU will have to depend on US military equipment to replace what’s lost in the war. In essence, not only will the EU economy be dependent on the US, it’s military defense will be dependent on the US. Not to mention all the profits US companies like Bechtel will make rebuilding the damaged EU infrastructure (like in Iraq.) The US will supply the oil and gas to the EU at inflated prices. The EU will be totally dependent on the US for literally everything. There will be no more “independent thinking” on the part of EU leaders (not that there is much now, except for the sanctions wavering early on.)
Other than simple stupidity, this is the only explanation for why the
US would get NATO to host aircraft attacking Russians in Ukraine. They
have to know that there is a chance Russia will strike NATO airfields
directly. As I said before, I’m not at all sure Russia will fall for that trap. OTOH, Russia may simply not care, given its military dominance over NATO. Perhaps the US is counting on that.
Yes, I freely admit this is pure speculation and conspiracy theory.
But it fits perfectly with US elites psychology and US history over the
past decades.
Needless to say, this theory, if true, massively raises the probability of WWIII over what I thought it was.
If NATO air craft get involved Russia will have no choice but to target NATO air fields air superiority is everything without it Russia will be dead in the water , i would imagine every EU NATO air base already has a hyper sonic missile aimed at it , if it dosen`t it should.
You have to admit, Mr. Stevenhack, it seems to me that most conspiracy theories have some elements of truth….
It’s probably what the wildest-eyed neocons would LOVE. But that depends on the rest of NATO being as stupid as the neocons think they are. Most of the nations are starting to realize what trouble they’re getting into by following Washington’s line. I expect NATO to end with a whimper, not a bang. Hopefully.
I have little trust in Zelensky. I’d be shocked if Zelensky spoke for the neo-Nazis who may very well assassinate him due to his talks with Russia. And I have no trust in the U.S./Biden. Will “the West,” by which is meant the old European colonial powers and their offspring get off Russia’s back if peace breaks out.
Too late. That was the demand BEFORE the war. Now he has pushed it to war, he can’t just take the offer he spurned.
Too bad. It was quite a sensible, reasonable offer when made.
Now he will be forced to pay a LOT more for a lot less. That is what national leaders get for massive blunders.
Biden too.
so he was being extorted? Russia said do this or we kill your people.
In Kiev, right outside the Pechersky Court, SBU officers killed Kireev, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Gomel negotiations with Russia. Allegedly “for treason. That is, they executed him without trial. An official. In the center of Kiev. Apparently, Zelensky himself could be next.
Zelensky himself said today that the West wants Ukrainians to be killed and that “we are fighting for where the new border will be.” Putin said “If the leadership of Ukraine continues to do what they are doing, it will call into question the future of Ukrainian statehood, and that will be entirely their responsibility”
The collective west is clearly determined to heroically fight Russia down to the last Ukrainian. If the Ukrainian delegation agrees to a surrender, then things can be resolved with the least amount of needless deaths and suffering. However, the West will not allow the Ukrainians to surrender and those Ukrainians who might agree to talk will get shot by their own (it is happening all over Banderastan right now).
Moscow has been very clear on the stated aims of the Special Operation. Disarm and De-Banderise the country. Look up who Stepan Bandera is, it makes very interesting reading……this is who the US put in power in Ukraine in 2014 after they ran a violent bloody coup from the US embassy.
Zelensky ready for talks ? ,has his US masters told him to stop the conflict before Russia overruns Ukraine ?, Zelensky could have had talks years ago so and prevented a war so why now ? , consideringhe say`sthe Ukraine army is winning.
If Mister Zelensky refuses to cooperate it really doesn’t matter because NATO can guarantee Russia’s security concerns without him. It’s no big deal, no missiles or other weapons of massive destruction, guarantee the safety of the Russian population in different areas and start the healing process.
NATO is not interested in peace. NATO wants to keep the war going as long as possible, but not get their hair mussed.
Man, everyone here a Pro Putin even though this is antiwar.com. Well, screw any negotiations with Putin. He has no word. Ukranians should continue the fight for their land and reclaim Dombas and Crimea. Putin already paying a high price for this. Great work Unraine. Fight fight fight.
From the comfort of your armchair, I am sure you will be getting exactly what you want, brother.
So, you’re saying to screw talks with Putin and to “fight, fight, fight” even though this is antwar.com?
“Regarding NATO, I have cooled down regarding this question long ago”
Well Zee, do tell us when you get up to temperature again. No hurry. Meanwhile the killing and destruction go on. You’ve got good company — Biden’s not really involved in this war either. You can both go down the drain together.
Who has Victoria Nuland selected to replace Zelenskyy when the explanation offered to explain his disappearance is that he stepped down “to spend more time with his family”?
One minute he’s “cool” the next minute he’s proclaiming to the British Parliament that Ukraine will “fight to the end”. You see why absolutely no one takes this guy seriously?
And yet look! Every single newspaper in the West – with the exact same headline, no less! – has proclaimed him “the new Churchill”! The MSM will have you believe that this drug-addled moron, promoted to President by a Ukrainian oligarch because he portrayed one on TV (Scott Ritter said it was like we promoted Sheen from “West Wing” to be US President), hiding in the basement of the US Embassy in Poland, is equivalent to Churchill in WWII!
You can’t make this stuff up, folks! Only in America (and the idiotic UK)!
Not sure where to mention this, but the brazenness of it so damn risible that I just have to!
“Russian military also are parking their tanks in residential areas, apparently using civilians as human shields, witnesses said.” WaPo.
Absolutely astounding! After hunkering down in the cities for over a week now, the Ukrainians have to gall to suggest that it is the Russians who are using the civilian population as “human shields!” The Ukranians refuse to surrender their cities, even when they are completely surrounded (as in Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol), or nearly so (as in Kharkiv), and have made those cities, along with Kyiv, the linchpins of their defensive formations. They perhaps have every right to do so, but, in consequence, the civilian casualties in those cities are at least somewhat attributable to that choice. You can’t build a fortress in a city, but then complain that the enemy, while attacking your fortress, is also killing civilians! Or, rather, you can, but it just screams hypocrisy.
But now the Ukrainians have taken their cynicism even further, and are claiming that it is the Russian who are using civilians as “human shields!”
Shameless!
We’re all responsible for what we do. We own it.
Yes, those people are responsible for living where they live.
And the people who decided to attack the places where they live are responsible for deciding to attach those places.
One of those things is unlike the other, though.
It is not the people who live in the cities that are “responsible,” but rather the Ukranian military authorities that choose to use those cities as defensive strongpoints. The rules of war prohibit the bombing and destruction of UNDEFENDED cities, not the bombing and destruction of cities that are being used as fortresses. No nation in the world subscribes to the view that a battlefield enemy becomes immune from attack merely by stationing its forces in urban areas. And, indeed, it is often such defenders (when they are not Western favorites like the Ukrainians) who are derided for using the city civilians as “human shields.” The proper way for the defending force to prevent or minimize urban civilian casualties is to evacuate the city, take up defensive positions outside it, and declare the city to be “open.” At that point, and only at that point, does the onus shift to the attacking force to occupy the city without further destruction, bombing, and so on.
The Ukrainians want it both ways, and then some. They want to use the cities as “festungs,” but then fight a propaganda war based on the Russian attack of those cities. And, on top of that, now they are claiming that it is the Russians who are using the civilians as “human shields.”
Excuses are like assholes. Everybody’s got one and they all stink.
I mean, sure, if you want to sink to that level!
I am responding to claims that the Russians are committing “war crimes” by attacking the cities. Do you think they are, in light of what I wrote? And by “war crimes” I mean actual, criminal violation of international law, not merely PR hyperbole. And does it not seem hypocritical to you that the Ukrainians are now claiming that it is the Russians who are using “human shields?”
There’s plenty of hypocrisy to go around.
Russians seem to be attacking civilian targets indiscriminately. Today it was a children’s hospital. I’m not aware of Ukrainian soldiers firing at Russian positions from there. And attempts to evacuate civilians from these cities have failed miserably.
The UN claims a total of 1,424 civilian casualties in two weeks.
If the Russians were attacking civilian targets indiscriminately, it would likely be 50 times that.
Sorry. They’re attacking civilian targets discriminately
I think if the Russians were attacking the holdout Ukranian cities “indiscriminately” they would have been reduced to rubble days ago. Also, keep in mind that what you are “aware of” is only what is filtered through pro Ukranian Western media. As for the attempts to evacuate the cities, as I posted earlier, why would the Russians impede them? The civilians in the cities are, de facto, acting as “human shields” for the Ukranian defenders. Why wouldn’t the Russians want them gone?
This war is turning out a classic Von Clauswitz: war as a continuation of diplomacy. The trick is now to make diplomacy a replacement of war. Who wants that and who does not want it?