President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful ceasefire talks could take place.
In an interview with Reuters and CNN, the head of state stressed: “We need at least that the people are not bombed anymore… and then we could sit down at the negotiating table.”
The head of state called on NATO members to introduce a no-fly zone over the Ukrainian airspace to stop Russian warplanes, and stressed that this would be a preventive measure, not the Alliance’s involvement in the war with Russia. According to Zelensky, U.S. President Joe Biden personally told him that now was not the time to take such a step.
As the interview was underway, the report came that the Russian invaders bombed the Kyiv TV transmission tower.
Zelensky also said that his country needs legally established security guarantees “if NATO closes its doors to Ukraine.”
“If our partners are not ready to accept Ukraine into NATO… because Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to be in NATO… they must develop joint security guarantees for Ukraine,” the president said.
In his opinion, the partner countries must provide legal guarantees, which will include the territorial integrity of Ukraine, protection of Ukrainian borders, and complete security for the country.
During the interview in a heavily guarded government building, Zelensky, 44, was unshaven and sporting a simple khaki T-shirt, pants, and army boots, Reuters wrote.
Earlier, Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, said that following the February 28 talks in Belarus, Russian and Ukrainian delegations “identified a number of priority topics on which certain decisions could be made” and are returning to their capitals for consultations. The Russian delegation stated that a new round of talks would be held on the Polish-Belarusian border in the near future.
The talks lasted about five hours. The Ukrainian delegation included MP David Arakhamiya with the Servant of the People faction, Oleksiy Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, Adviser to the Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Kostin, Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), and MP Rustem Umerov.
The Russian delegation was headed by Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, former Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. The Russian delegation also included Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky and the Russian representative in the TCG Boris Gryzlov.
The Office of the President of Ukraine said that the key issue of the agenda was the immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine. The Ukrainian leadership noted that Zelensky “does not accept any unacceptable conditions and ultimatums,” only full-fledged negotiations.
On February 27, the President’s Office reported that Belarusian dictator Oleksandr Lukashenko and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed that the Ukrainian and Russian delegations meet the Ukrainian-Belarusian border near the Pripyat River.
