Zelensky Says He Is Willing To Hold Negotiations With Putin

KYIV, Feb 5 (Bernama-dpa) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to enter into direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin under certain conditions, reported German news agency dpa.

In addition to Ukraine and Russia, the United States and Europe should also be involved in the talks, Zelensky told British journalist Piers Morgan in an interview published on YouTube late on Tuesday.

It was unclear whether Zelensky was referring to the European Union or to individual member states.

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"If this is the only way to bring peace to the people of Ukraine and to avoid further loss of life, we will go to this meeting with these four participants," he said. 

"I will not be nice to him, I consider him an enemy, and frankly, I think he considers me an enemy too," Zelensky added.

Putin has recently emphasised that he is willing to negotiate, but has maintained that Zelensky has blocked any talks with him. Putin is referring to a decree signed by Zelensky in September 2022, after Russia annexed the four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson.

While the decree does not prohibit negotiations with the Russian leader, it states that they are impossible in view of the situation. Zelensky recently said the document was intended to prevent potential separatism because Moscow was looking for unofficial communication channels with Ukraine at that time. 

Morgan is close to US President Donald Trump, who is pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost three years. 

In his evening video address on Tuesday, Zelensky said that Ukraine had already begun holding "substantive discussions" with the US. 

-- BERNAMA-dpa