Volodymyr Zelensky: I want security guarantees from America and Europe, then I will sit down for negotiations with Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to negotiate in any format if the US and Europe provide security guarantees. He made this statement in an interview with the British television channel ITV News, answering the question of whether he agreed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for peace talks, TACC reported.

"If I had an understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us, but would support us and give us security guarantees, then I would be ready for any format of negotiations", he said.

Earlier, Zelensky said in an interview with Bloomberg that "without Russia it is impossible to diplomatically end the war".

The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated their readiness to negotiate to resolve the conflict. At the same time, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova explained that "the main obstacles are the impossibility of negotiations with Putin, legislatively enshrined in Zelensky's decree, as well as Ukrainian initiatives that demonstrate Kiev's complete isolation from modern realities".

In turn, Putin pointed out that Zelensky's legitimacy has ended, so it is important to understand who in Kiev to deal with in order to sign legally binding documents. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov emphasized that negotiations with Ukraine are possible, but their outcome must be approved by the legitimate Ukrainian authorities.