Zelenskyy on Putin: It’s difficult to negotiate with unreasonable people

OLENA ROSHCHINA – THURSDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2022, 17:05

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that there ought to be no negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he is not entirely reasonable and is, moreover, a terrorist at his core.

Source: President Zelenskyy in an interview with ZDF, a German public-service television broadcaster

Quote from Zelenskyy: "The chancellor’s [Olaf Scholz’s] attitude towards me and towards us has changed, as has our attitude to the chancellor…I think the war has allowed the chancellor to see the consequences of the fact that the Russian president says one thing and does something entirely different. And I’m not just talking about [Putin’s] public statements, but about [his] personal promises…

I think the chancellor has realised that the Russian president can’t be trusted and that Ukraine has been right [about this]. We have spent a long time knocking on Germany’s [...] doors, we wanted those doors to open and we wanted to be heard [when we say that] we really are dealing with people who are not entirely reasonable, and [that] it is difficult to negotiate with unreasonable people.

They might promise you something, then immediately do something else. These are terrorists who don’t entirely know what they want. Because every day their position changes depending on their emotions. The chancellor understands this better now, and I’m grateful [to him for that], it has a significant effect [on the course of events]."

Details: In the same interview Zelenskyy said he made several attempts to talk to President Putin before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the Russian side did not want to talk to him. But now, after having invaded Ukraine, the Russians are claiming that they want to negotiate.

The president of Ukraine is prepared to talk to those who want peace. Putin, by contrast, talks about negotiations while his forces launch hundreds of missiles on Ukraine and its critical energy infrastructure.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "[Putin] is unreasonable; he does not understand that [his actions] are only uniting us further. Moreover, either he doesn’t want our countries to have any meaningful dialogue, or he fails to understand that each missile strike [by Russia] diminishes the likelihood of our negotiations to the point of its complete disappearance.

For Ukraine right now, [Putin] stands for a terrorist that no one wants to talk to. What could there possibly be to talk about? As a country that wants peace, we say: ‘Yes, of course we will talk to Russia, but with another person [at its helm]... Someone will materialise [in Putin’s place].’"

Details: Zelenskyy believes that European leaders must also make it clear to the Russian Federation that they will not negotiate with Putin.

"[Putin] is threatening us all with nuclear weapons…We must tell the Russians loud and clear: we cannot talk to him [...], we don’t want to deal with terrorists," Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian president explained that Russia has resorted to nuclear blackmail and threatening Europe with a cold winter because for many years Russia has been allowed to do so.

"Europe used to bend over backwards, but that’s not the thing to do; you must look one another in the eye. I’m not saying that the Russians should have bent over backwards. All countries should be equal and look one another in the eye. The only thing left for the Russians to do is to apologise, because no one is going to just forget what they’ve done. One country should not tell the whole world how to live, whether to heat their homes or not," the president said. Referring to Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, he added that it should not be "using the same gas needle" as Russia.

Additionally, Zelenskyy believes that "as long as someone is an occupier, they must be completely cut off" from the rest of the world; showing weakness is not an option because it would enable Putin to keep "chipping away" at Ukraine’s territories.

According to the Ukrainian president, Europe has to make it through this winter in order to put an end to Russia’s arm-twisting.

Zelenskyy also said that Putin can end the war and attempt to save his own life by withdrawing from Ukraine and "hitting a historic pause".

Zelenskyy believes Putin must be afraid that he will be "devoured" by his own people, though not until the Russians are brave enough to "open their eyes and see the truth".

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