Zelenskyy: Ukraine should strengthen its position before negotiations with the Russian Federation by involving the EU and NATO

Negotiations, illustrative photo of ERA

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that representatives of the EU and NATO should participate in possible negotiations with the Russian Federation after the corresponding strengthening of Ukraine's positions.

He said this at a press conference with the head of the European Council Antonio Kosta in Kyiv.

According to the President, when Ukraine has a list of points that will put it in a strong position, then it will be possible to sit down at the negotiating table.

«Who will be at this negotiating table? Yes, Russia, Ukraine and, as I said, the European Union and NATO. Why? Because we see ourselves as part of the security system in these alliances. And in this format, I understand when we can sit down, what we will talk about. Because I will understand who is around us and what we can agree on,» Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

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At the same time, he stated that the most difficult issue that will have to be resolved will be whether Russia agrees at all to see Ukraine as an independent country.

«I think that the most difficult question that we will have to solve, because the person who will be sitting opposite, Russia, if they don't want peace, they don't want to see Ukraine as an independent country in the future, what can we agree on?» he said.

The president also emphasized that if the war is frozen without a strong position for Ukraine, Russia will soon return with new aggression.

«If there is a frozen conflict without any strong position for Ukraine, then Putin will come in 2-3-5 years, it does not depend on us, he will come back and he will destroy us completely and utterly. He will try to destroy us,» said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

We will remind that in August of this year, Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko stated that Ukraine is not negotiating with terrorists, responding to media reports about the alleged failure of negotiations with the Russian Federation through intermediaries to stop attacks on the energy sector.

Earlier, the French edition of Le Monde, citing its own sources, wrote that Ukraine and Russia were supposedly conducting secret negotiations on concluding an agreement on mutual cessation of strikes on energy infrastructure, but the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region disrupted these plans.

The head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak, said that Ukraine is not conducting any negotiations with Russia, including in the field of energy security.

Meanwhile, Russia announced a «long-term pause» in negotiations with Ukraine after a series of defeats and an attack on the Kursk region.

It should also be noted that according to a social survey, more than half of Ukrainians consider the possibility of negotiations with Russia to end the war.