Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia must pull back its troops to pre-invasion positions as a precondition for negotiations, a condition that Moscow is unlikely to agree with.
Zelensky told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland via video link that he was willing to negotiate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin but said Russia must take a step to show it is ready to “shift from the bloody war to diplomacy.”
“It’s possible if Russia shows at least something. When I say at least something, I mean pulling back troops to where they were before February 24,” Zelensky said. “I believe it would be a correct step for Russia to make.”
Russia and Ukraine were engaged in negotiations earlier in the war, but they have stalled, thanks in part to the billions in weapons being shipped to Ukrainian forces by the US and its NATO allies. Zelensky said Ukraine will continue to fight until “it reclaims all its territories.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attended the World Economic Forum in person and described the situation for Ukrainian troops as “extremely bad.” He called for the West to provide Ukraine with more advanced weapons. “
“Every day of someone sitting in Washington, Berlin, Paris, and other capitals, and considering whether they should or should not do something, costs us lives and territories,” he said.
Russia has been making gains in the eastern Donbas since the earlier peace talks failed. Russia had initially demanded that Ukraine drop its claim to Crimea, which has been under Russian control since 2014, and recognize the independence of the breakaway Donbas republics, but Zelensky has maintained that he won’t cede any territory.
Since Ukraine wouldn’t give in to the Russian demands earlier in the war, it’s unlikely Russia will ever agree to withdraw from the territory it has captured before a deal is reached. France, Germany, and Italy have been calling for a negotiated solution to end the fighting, while the US, Britain, Poland, and the Baltic states want to see Russia suffer a military defeat.
Incredibly Henry Kissinger, the 98-year-old realpolitik architect of US foreign policy for decades says Ukraine should observe Minsk agreement, etc., and negotiations are essential — IN NEXT 3 MONTHS — for this not to be world-wide disaster. (In all fairness he’s been saying essentially this since the 1990’s.) US pol’s, armaments manufacturers, military, and media have zero interest in stopping. They (at least pol’s) truly want overthrow Putin. How well have these aspirations played out previously? Pol’s sit here in the US a huge ocean away from Europe, have no actual real-life skin in game. And they play it like a game where humans are just pieces on a board, far away.
“Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and described the situation for Ukrainian troops as “extremely bad.””
Between the clown Zelensky and the idiot Kuleba, Ukraine is a lost cause with a continuing Public Relations program. When Russia surrounds Kiev after taking the entire coast of Ukraine, Zelensky will still be broadcasting from his bunker in his drug haze. He will still be spewing his dribble on Zoom calls and moving imaginary troops around a map like a former German named Adolf was doing in May of 1945.
Aaaaand the cokehead in chief changed his mind again. Just 2 days ago he was calling for negotiations and accepted to surrender parts of ethnic Russian territories terrorized by his US trained Nazi death squads and a week prior to that he said no negotiation and that Russia must leave.
The man is just yapping incoherently what his western handlers and Nazi militias tells him to while being high.
Russia isn’t going to stop until they regain Novorussiiya from the Donbas to the Northern border of Moldova.
This reminds of the Nazi days when Hitler was conquering all of Europe but this is happening on 2022.
Exaggerate much?
Only an exaggeration to Putin supporters.
I’m not a Putin supporter. So, I guess it was an exaggeration after all. Thank for admitting such.
I’m convinced you spend a long time in front of the mirror telling yourself how cool you are.
Buck naked while doing so.
Right? “He’s just PROTECTING the ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland!” Followed by “The only way for France to end the war is just to give in, they can’t beat Hitler! Besides. he was PROVOKED by the French having troops at the Maginot line!” And then “The only way for Britain to end this war is to surrender. They can’t hope to win against Germany!” And then ….
While it’s debatable if the ethnic “Volksdeutsche” in the Sudetenland needed protection, Hitler never made it a secret that he wanted all ethnic Germans living in one Reich. Therefore he set out to reclaim land that was taken from Germany after WWI.
Hitler was “provoked” by France to attack because Britain and France unnecessarily DECLARED WAR on Germany.
Lo and behold, a genuine Hitler apologist, folks. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised they’d start cropping up
The sooner Russia eliminates the criminal gangs working for Zelensky the better.
Zelensky’s mind is at least known for being under influence? But what is happening to the collective West? Where is the Russophobic euphoria coming from? Whu is collective West on a determined path to remove energy products from the market and INCREASE PRICES? For years US managed to elininate or reduce the supply of oil and gas, From Iran, Venezuela, to Russia – supplies cut off, reduced production in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.
Why? Isn’t US the biggest producer of oil in the world? If so, where is it? Why are Americans penalized by the glibal upheaval — when US production should bevused to stabilize prices in US by subsidizing.
But no — our energy majors are making skyrocketing profits, while incomes are under stressed with dizzying rjump in prices for housing, fuel and food!
They WANT infflation to undervalue the foreign debt we accumulsted, and inflation is the only cure. First CIVID was an excuse to print money and jack up inflation. But a better plan came along — Ukraine. Sacrifice the stupid country, make it provoke Russia to such an extent that military intervention was inevitable. And real the benefits. Take all the weaponry and dump somewhere. make allies do the same, then vote a lots of money to be printed and give it to MIC to develop new weapons. And make Ukraunne pay for the weapons in wheat. Already all “sold” via Romanian port of Constanca.
Ukrainians have mined theiir ports from the beginnig of war. Also detained all foreign ships as human shields — over seventy of them. And paying for weapons with grain.
The drugged out drag queen Zelensky can make all the demands he wants.
Zelensky is seen increasing like a 3 year old child who demands and demands with no hope of ever achieving his wants.
Russia has already pulled back from Kiev – ages ago, so I guess the ball’s in shorty’s court…
😆 Good luck with THAT notion, ZelBoy!
The time to negotiate with Russia without their troops overrunning your little Nazi backwater would have been BEFORE Putin was compelled to invade.
I can’t figure this guy out: he’s either bipolar, a Cokehead, or just plain stupid. I tend to go with all three.
What was Putin “compelled” by? The power of Christ?
You know the answer to that question as well as I do, Thomas.
come on man, how about the thought of missiles on russia’s doorstep.
how about the existence of uncle sam bioweapon labs in the ukraine.
or maybe the ukraine puppet govt had been bombing the russian-speaking regions of ukraine.
when i think of some more compelling reasons i will add them here.
compel, v. 1. to force or drive, especially to a course of action. 2. to secure or bring about by force. 3. to force to submit; subdue. 4. to overpower.
The cognitive dissonance with Putin seems to be the same as with Trump:
He’s DA MAN, the bold, wise leader doing only right things.
Except that every time he shits the bed, he’s suddenly a helpless meat puppet just doing as he’s forced to by others.
It’s one thing to argue that Putin’s DECISION to invade Ukraine was correct or incorrect.
It’s another to both insist that it was a correct decision and that it wasn’t a decision at all. Pick one.
I shudder to contemplate what Amerikkka would have done had the same circumstances applied to it.
Hmmm, carpet bombing comes to mind.
knapp you are splitting hairs or whatever with your definition of “compel”.
ok maybe nobody “compelled” putin to attack ukraine but the 3 “reasons” that i listed for his action will be seen by others down the line as “justification” enough.
what would you do if your immediate neighbor allowed your mortal enemy to set up bioweapon labs in his backyard.
Whether I agree or not, arguing that the invasion was justified is at least in the ballpark of reality.
Arguing that it was not a choice isn’t compatible with arguing that Putin is some kind of gee whiz great leader.
oh of course putin had a choice. but regardless of whether he is a great leader or not, he has been the leader of russia since 2000, so somebody over there must think he is great
Screw all this great leader chaff! Does the prospect of having the U.S. NATO nuclear armed presence and facilitation of a decapitating first strike rise to an existential threat to Russia that requires a stern response?
We will know much more about the correctness of the invasion when all the dust settles and blood cools by the end of hostilities situation and agreements… Chairman Mao said all progres comes out from the barrel of a gun!
I don’t agree, but sometimes the guns can be part of the motivation… I am reflexively antiwar, but not a pacifist. Sometimes one is rightly called defend the homeland. Is this case one of homeland defense? I am not sure if it is.
Now now, Thomas, better not to drag religion into this “bad enough as is,” without adding any religious roastings to the fire. Better to stick to the facts as best possible. If Putin was compelled by anything terrestrial, my choice is the intransigence of Doltenburg’s F.U. “We aint changing how we do things here at NATO for you…..!!!” Putin probably thought his 140,000 reasons on the border would get a somewhat more serious reply like when the one Russia gave about the Cuban nukes way back then. So maybe he thought Sdolty was a little deaf, so he decided to up the decibel count a bit, in hopes of getting a more conciliatory answer. but he got crickets. Now that the game is on we will get to see what Putin can do….. and what the U.S. and NATO Gnomes will do *Some miss spelt words are intentional.
This is “Great Game #2” but this time between US/NATO and Russia. Also on the Western side of Russia, with Ukraine in the part of Afghanistan. Like the first Great Game it has nothing to do with democracy. Like Afghanistan before, Ukraine will survive.
“US/NATO/NAZIS said Russia must pull back its troops to pre-invasion positions as a precondition for negotiations”
Fixed. As if Zelensky is making ANY decisions.
I see you are evolving. Just joined the “Nazi” wagon too. I knew you’ve been drinking the other little Nazi’s cool aid.
VZ’s decision is simple, fight for his country. Something you are incapable of understanding, obviously, though you are good a screaming from the peanut gallery as usual.
To say they don’t have influence with Zelensky is foolish. And I’ve mentioned Nazis several times. Denying them doesn’t make them go away.
“Fighting for ones country” is a good and hororable thing. But fighting that DESTROYS ones country, is not so much good and honorable at some point it becomes bad and dishonorable. In such circumstances it is not easy to calibrate actions in the fog of war. Perhaps he could hope that NATO will step in and save him and his country. Back when the NATO was still strong and was near the pinnacle of its power, it did not lift a finger to help little Georgia after it blundered into the maw of Russia’s ire.
Now after America and NATO have fallen dangerously behind in the arms race, what are the chances that they would take the existential plunge into open conflict or war with the new power house China and Russia if they did not help Georgia in its hour of need.. Its more a joke than a question
When I read this, it makes me wonder if Victoria Nuland is still allowed to have some sway over the policy of whomever is currently running the war. As if the Russians would capitulate their positions for talks per se, without some sort of carrots being offered. That Zelensky’s some comedian!!!!! But more and more, as Bianca has pointed out, the joke is on HIM…!!!!!!!
“A day without comedy is a day wasted”
…. Zelensky
I can’t understand why Zelensky would bait the bear so greviously. Maybe he didn’t see what happened in Georgia. He apparently ran in his election as a peace with Russia advocate. What changed…?????
Sounds like the way Washington negotiates: You give up everything you have to bargain with and then we’ll talk.
I am marketing a new line of toilet paper, it is blue and yellow 🇺🇦.
It expresses disdain for Zelensky and his Nazi hordes.
I am marketing a new line of toilet paper, it is blue and yellow 🇺🇦.
It expresses disdain for Zelensky and his Nazi hordes. All funds will help the ethnic Slavic Ukrainians harmed by the Azov Nazis.
Where do I order?
This one is on sale.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/34e74f4bdec4a5baf0f89142ec4b84d97d23b524c9984dce02c604ec9bc62666.jpg
Didn’t ask you.
Hey look, it’s our resident genocide promoter, the same dude who said the only good Ukrainian was a dead Ukrainian!
Russia troops pull back?
So if Ukraine is part of Russia and Ukrainians are actually Russians, or cousins for that matter as claimed by Little Hitler, there is no wonder why the Baltics, Finland, and other neighboring countries feel so threatened by Russia. If they can go Nazi on Ukraine, imagine what they would do to the other countries.
Obviously, whatever country Russia says is Russian is Russian!! Silly.
First you make up a story and then you make up a scenario to prove your made-up story. Yes “little Hitler” wants to take over the whole world so naturally all the neighbors are petrified. Good one.
Feelings were hurt.
Go Nazi, hardly. It was Russia who delivered the coup de’graux to the Nazis in Russia putting an end to to Nazi rampage that killed millions. Not many will claim that Ukraine will go NAZI, because it already is infected. It is part of the Ukie enmity with Russia from when Ukraine embraced the Reich. Time will tell how this all shakes out but Zelensky has already been responsible for terrible loss and destruction by not suing for peace before such widespread losses were inflicted.
Let us see what will Zelemsky do now that his military head of operations advises already belated pullback from an encirclement. Zenski wants a better deal, so he would allow it by end of Friday, not before. But un the meantime Russia established a comfortabe fire control over one and only road for withdaw. It may be declared a victory, as alwaysz
Zelensky, you should be discussing your UNCONDITIONAL surrender with V Putin ?? & not bluffing about conditions ??
You are NOT in a position to ask for any CONDITIONS …
Zelensky Says Ukraine Is Toast