Zelensky urges Putin to ‘start dialogue’

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for a dialogue, stressing that Ukraine is ready to talk and seek compromises.

“First of all, I’m ready for a dialogue, but we’re not ready for surrender,” Zelensky said in an interview with the American television channel ABC News, asked whether Ukraine is ready to comply with the demands of the Russian Federation for a ceasefire: to change the Constitution and refuse to join NATO, recognize Crimea as Russian, recognize the independence of the so-called People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

“Regarding NATO, I lost interest in this issue after we realized that NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of contradictory things and confrontation with the Russian Federation,” he added.

He also noted that Ukraine does not want to be a country that “begs for something on its knees, and we are not going to be such a country, I do not want to be such a president.”

“I’m talking about security guarantees,” Zelensky said, adding that it’s possible to talk about compromise on “unrecognized republics.”

“What needs to be done is Putin needs to start talking,” he insisted.