Ukraine agrees to all proposals for a ceasefire, except for those that contradict its Constitution. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this at a press conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria.
He noted that the Ukrainian and European teams had developed a document during yesterday's talks with the United States in London. According to Zelenskyy, it is already on the desk of US President Donald Trump.
‘Anything that contradicts our values and our Constitution cannot be included in any agreements,’ the president stressed.
Zelenskyy also noted that he did not see any significant pressure on Russia or new sanctions packages.
"No reproaches. We believe that with more pressure on the Russian Federation, we will be able to bring our parties, if you like, closer to a complete unconditional ceasefire. This is step number one. And when we talk about a compromise (territorial - Ed.), I believe that we were attacked, our territory was occupied, tens of thousands of people were killed, many children and adults were buried alive... And the fact that Ukraine is ready to sit down at the negotiating table after a complete ceasefire with the terrorists who have organised all this on our land is a great compromise. We don't want this war to continue, and that's why we say that the first step is a ceasefire," Zelenskyy explained.
He stressed that the second step should be the return of Ukrainian children and the exchange of all prisoners, both military and civilian, for all prisoners. All of them - since 2014.
Commenting on who can be a guarantor, Zelenskyy noted that it is first necessary to determine what the guarantor is. First of all, it is necessary to find out who will be the guarantor of security to avoid a frozen conflict and the start of a new war. According to Zelenskyy, these should be ‘strong countries and strong alliances’ that ‘are not afraid of Russia and have influence on it.’ According to Zelenskyy, these should be the United States and Europe.
"If the allies do not support our participation in NATO, we say: if you do not support it, it is you, you are NATO members. Russia cannot veto it. Whether we like it or not, you are free people. It is your decision. Okay, give other security guarantees," he added.
Zelenskyy recalled that Ukraine had agreed to an unconditional ceasefire proposed by the United States in Saudi Arabia. It also agreed to the American proposals for a minerals agreement, removing from it what was contrary to the Constitution.
- Yesterday, the Defence and Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and the UK met in London. A meeting between the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Germany, France, the UK and the US Secretary of State was also scheduled earlier, but was cancelled due to the absence of Marco Rubio. CNN attributed Rubio's absence to Ukraine's refusal to recognise Crimea as Russia.
- After the cancellation of the talks at the level of foreign ministers, US Vice President J.D. Vance said that Washington had made a ‘very clear offer’ to Russia and Ukraine on how to move towards a peace deal, adding that ‘it's time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process.’ ‘There has to be some territorial exchange,’ Vance said, adding that while the border may not end up with the same front lines as it does now, both sides must ‘lay down their arms, freeze “it” and get on with the real building of a better Russia and a better Ukraine.’
- President Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine is ready for an immediate ceasefire, at least on civilian objects, and does not rule out any format of negotiations.