Following Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov’s call on Kyiv on Monday to guarantee its non-bloc status, demilitarize, and recognize Crimea and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that his country is ready to discuss the status of ‘rebelling’ territories.
Speaking in an interview for ABC News Zelensky has indicated Ukraine is ready to consider “discussing” security guarantees and find the compromise on how these territories will live on, underscoring that these pseudo-republics are temporarily occupied territories that have not been recognized by anyone but Russia.
As a reminder, the current crisis in Ukraine is the culmination of a calamity initiated in February 2014, when political forces backed by the US and EU and aided by ultranationalists overthrew the country’s government that avoided seeking bloc status.
Crimea authorities, prompted by the chaos, held a referendum on the mostly ethnic-Russian peninsula’s status, with the vast majority voting in favor of breaking off from Ukraine’s jurisdiction and returning to Russia.
Crimea rejoined Russia in March 2014 after breaking off from Ukraine following the Maidan coup in Kyiv, where ultranationalist and pro-Western forces came to power, while Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics were established shortly afterward.
Zelensky noted that what’s important to him is how the people who want to be part of Ukraine are going to live in those territories, and also expressed willingness for dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning at the same time that Ukraine is not prepared for ultimatums.
Regarding NATO, Zelensky pointed out that Kyiv has cooled down a long time ago after it came to realize that NATO, being afraid of controversial things and confrontation with Russia, is not prepared to accept Ukraine. He underscored that Ukraine never wanted to be and it’s not going to be a country that is begging for something on its knees
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