Zelensky says he is ready to negotiate with Russia, wants talks to happen in 'neutral' Israel - Russian negotiator says agreement may come soon

RT
Sun, 13 Mar 2022 12:02 UTC

© UMIT BEKTAS/REUTERS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his readiness for negotiations with Russia. He requested that the Israeli prime minister convene peace talks in Jerusalem.

"A group of Ukrainians and Russian representatives are discussing certain issues. They began talking about something, and not just throwing out ultimatums," Zelensky said on Saturday, during a press conference with foreign media.

Kiev is of the view that any high-profile talks with Russia should be held on neutral territory, Zelensky said, naming Israel as a potential host for such negotiations.

Comment: Neutral territory? Apartheid state Israel has been arming the neo-Nazi military for nearly a decade, and in 2016 the US agreed to gift Israel $38 billion over 10 years - making it the recipient of the largest US aid package of any country.

"We spoke with [Israeli Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett, and I said that today it is not right [to hold] meetings in Russia, in Belarus. I'm not talking about technical meetings - I'm talking about leaders' meetings. Do I think that Israel can be such a land, and Jerusalem? Yes, I think so. And I told him that," Zelensky stated.

However, the president said, if the outcome was to be successful, his country would need certain "security guarantees" that the ongoing conflict was settled not only from the perspective of Russia, but also from that of the West. Israel could act as a guarantor in that respect, he suggested.

Comment: This 'preference' for Israel perhaps reveals that it too, along with the US, holds a significant sway over the Ukrainian government.

So far, Russian and Ukrainian delegations have met three times in Belarus to discuss the ongoing conflict. Apart from reaching some understanding on establishing humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the combat zones, the two sides have failed to achieve any tangible results.

A more high-profile meeting took place in the Turkish resort city of Antalya on Thursday, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. These discussions also proved inconclusive, with Kuleba describing them as "difficult", and Lavrov claiming the Ukrainian officials "always want to substitute the real work of implementing agreements with inventing new formats."

Comment: With the US recently pledging $13.6 BILLION for Ukraine in its proxy war against Russia, it would appear that US does not intend to give up anytime soon.

See also: Zelensky is Not in Charge of Ukraine, Nazis Are - And They Believe They Are on a Mission From God to 'Derussify Ukraine in Holy War'

And check out SOTT radio's: Russian Operations in Ukraine Proceeding as Planned, But Risk of War Contagion Grows

UPDATE: Leonid Slutsky, of the Russian negotiating team, gave the following update:

Speaking to RT Arabic on Sunday, Slutsky - who also chairs the State Duma's Committee on International Affairs - said, "If we compare the positions of both delegations at the talks, at the very beginning and today, we see significant progress."

"I am happy to report that, according to my personal expectations, in the next few days, this progress may develop into a joint position of the delegations and into documents to sign."

Slutsky stressed that signing such documents would be a matter of "paramount importance," as it would provide a basis for de-escalation and for "saving many people who are dying today."
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Ukraine has nonetheless apparently witnessed some progress in the negotiations, too. Presidential aide Mikhail Podolyak said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant that the two sides were approaching a compromise. He opined that the Russian side was "already seeing things much more adequately," but noted that it would likely be some time before it "fully, 100%, understands the situation it has got into."

Podolyak said he sees any agreement between Kiev and Moscow as being in the form of a "multi-component" document. It should include provisions on the termination of the war, the terms and time schedule of the withdrawal of the Russian forces, the guaranteed terms of the peace agreement, and a detailed description of compensation mechanisms, he stressed, as recovery efforts would likely amount to "billions of dollars."