Senior Ukrainian official says Kiev is not yet ready for talks with Russia by Reuters

(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview broadcast late on Thursday that Kiev is not yet ready to start talks with Russia because it lacks the weapons, security guarantees and international standing it seeks.

Andriy Yermak’s comments to public radio Sospilen come as Zelensky publicly considers the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the war with Russia, which was triggered by Moscow’s large-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

“Not only today,” Yermak told Sospilen in response to a question about whether Ukraine was ready to start talks.

He added, “We do not have the weapons, and we do not have the situation that we are talking about. This means calling on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and understanding the clear guarantees that it will provide us, so that we can be sure that (Russian) President Vladimir Putin will not return after two or three years.” “Years.”

In comments this week alongside German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, Zelensky said Ukraine wanted to end the war and that efforts were needed to make his country stronger and force the Kremlin to work for peace.

In recent public comments, the president also said talks could take place with Russia still in control of territory it seized in the invasion.

But he said that Ukraine needed to extend an invitation to the entire country to join NATO, although NATO status would apply to territory controlled by the Kiev authorities and real security guarantees would have to be provided.

While in Paris last week, Zelensky met with US President-elect Donald Trump, who said, without providing details, that he wanted to end the war quickly.

Russia has long rejected any idea of ​​Ukraine becoming a member of NATO, with Putin saying that Kiev must accept the Kremlin’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions that it only partially controls.