"Putin will agree to meet with Zelensky only if Ukraine capitulates" - Kislytsya

Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky only if Ukraine surrenders, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislytsa said in an interview with The Kyiv Independent.

According to him, unlike the Ukrainian delegation, whose members can exchange ideas and opinions on negotiations with Moscow, the Russian side maintains very strict discipline in carrying out Putin’s instructions.

“And Putin’s mandate is to force us to surrender. Their logic is the opposite of our logic. We say, let’s establish a ceasefire in order to create appropriate conditions for a meeting of leaders, to create a constructive environment for an agreement, they openly say, no, first you accept our demands - capitulation, and only then we will organize a meeting of leaders,” Kislytsya said.

According to him, Russia is a dictatorship, within which only one person makes the most important decisions. That is why delegations cannot achieve tangible results on their own.