“Belarus is not an option”: Zelensky explains where negotiations with Russia can take place
28 May 2025 11:53
The next peace talks between Ukraine and Russia may take place in Turkey, the Vatican, or Switzerland. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting with journalists on May 28, reports
The Ukrainian leader emphasized that he was ready for a future hypothetical meeting at the level of the presidents of the United States and Russia.
We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. The American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this. We are ready for the Trump-Putin-I format, and we are ready for the Trump-Putin, Trump-Zelenskyy format, and then the three of us,” the Ukrainian president said.
He added that the meeting in the Vatican was supported by everyone except Moscow. At the same time, Russia signaled talks in Belarus. But Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately dismissed it as the least likely.
For us, Belarus is currently the country from which the missiles were fired, and therefore it is an ally of the state that attacked us. And the troops came from Belarus. This is simply impossible in relation to Belarus,” the President of Ukraine said.
Zelenskyy also emphasized that he was ready even for a bilateral meeting if “Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting.”
The President of Ukraine added that he wants to see European leaders at the negotiating table in the near future, who can act as security guarantors.
“If there is a meeting, for example, about security guarantees, I really want Europeans to be there. This means that they will provide these security guarantees. They are the only ones who have already declared that they are ready to support Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
Read also: Ukraine is planning new talks with Russia: what is known about the format and venue
What else did Volodymyr Zelenskyy say at the meeting with journalists?
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a number of other important statements at a meeting with media professionals on May 27.
About Vladimir Putin
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian president is more irritating to the White House than he is.
Whatever the public rhetoric is, I think they are really frustrated – I don’t know if that’s the right word. But I think in general, the White House understands that Putin definitely doesn’t want to end things the way the White House wants them to end things,” he said.
On sanctions against Russia
According to the Ukrainian leader, the sanctions will become especially noticeable for the Russian economy in the early summer of 2026.
“June 2026 – we all hope that there will be no more war. We really do. But at the same time, we realize that the Russians will feel the economic impact of sanctions. Already from those that have been adopted. And we believe that from that moment on, somewhere in the summer of 2026, their economy will feel it strongly,” Zelensky emphasized.
He explained that the same conclusions are made by intelligence and analysts of many countries. However, Russians only think about war.
On weapons for the Armed Forces
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has to buy more and more weapons for money.
We need funding because we have started to find options that are not free. This is important for us. Some things are opening up, and they need funding. This also applies to artillery shells and air defense systems, various things – all of this requires funding,” the Ukrainian president emphasized.
But, despite this, the Ukrainian military has been provided with missiles for the Patriot system. They use them carefully and “work” on the most complex missiles (ballistic and cruise missiles).
In a conversation with the media, Zelenskyy also hinted that Ukraine has positive results in missile construction.
“We have made several steps forward in the missile program, this is a big complicated story called Ukrainian ballistics,” he said.
On the exchange of prisoners
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia does not want to give up citizens of other countries because it is a lever of pressure. They especially refuse to recognize Belarusians on the side of Ukraine.
He also expressed hope that after the ceasefire, it will be possible to return all Ukrainian military and civilians who are currently held captive in Russia.
This means returning all the prisoners. We hope that this will happen after the ceasefire,” the President of Ukraine said.
He added that the Ukrainian side is also ready to exchange Ukrainian soldiers for captured soldiers from China and North Korea. But the Kremlin has not yet responded to this proposal.
We offered to exchange them for Ukrainian soldiers, but there have been no proposals from the other side. We also have the Koreans,” Zelenskyy said.
On Russia’s offensive
The President of Ukraine said that the occupiers are constantly taking offensive actions, but they have not succeeded in a major operation. There is also an accumulation of troops in the Sumy direction, for which the Russians were preparing.
In addition, the Russian military is making every effort to cross the administrative border of the Dnipro region.
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